ELKHART CO. — Newly released numbers show Elkhart Couty's unemployment rate at more than 16 percent. That means a lot of people are not working right when the county's first installment of property tax bills are about to be due.

A viewer has a Good Question: What should I do if I can’t pay my property tax bill?

WSBT's Kirk Mason looked into it.

It was last summer when layoffs began coming in the hundreds for Elkhart County's battered RV industry. But much pain from those layoffs is still being felt this summer.

Elkhart County started sending out property tax bills on July — they're due July 31, less than two weeks from now.

There is a 5 percent penalty on what you don't pay over the first 30 days; but after that the penalty jumps to 10 percent.

County Auditor Dave Hess says they won't know for sure until early August if the bad economy means a lot more people can't pay their property tax bills. If you can't pay the full amount, Hess recommends contacting the county treasurer's office. He says, for example, the county recently worked with a local business owner to figure out the lowest amount he could pay to avoid losing his building.

Elkhart County Treasurer Larry Ernest says his best advice is to pay whatever you can. By doing that you only pay the late fee on the amount of your payment's that left. Ernest also says you can contact his office to find the lowest amount you have to pay to avoid your home become part of the county's tax sale. This is very important, because it can keep you in your home.