The Hall County Board of Commissioners voted to approve collecting property taxes in two installments - finally.

The vote at Thursday's commission meeting ended a two-year debate that started with a ballot question to gauge voter opinion on the issue.

Though residents largely approved of getting property tax bills twice a year, commissioners were troubled to discover the state required a 5 percent penalty for late payments on the first installment.

A bill approved last session, though, will do away with the 5 percent penalty, County Attorney Bill Blalock told the commissioners.

"Somewhere buried in a Senate bill in the legislature this spring there is a provision to repeal the 5 percent penalty, effective Jan. 1, 2011," Blalock said.

He said the new penalties would be consistent with those the county now enforces.

"As of Jan. 1, as it stands right now, if you adopt two-installment payments and you don't make the first payment, then there will be a 1 percent per month interest rate that will apply immediately following failure to make that installment. That will also apply to the second installment," Blalock said. "That is the same as it is now when we make our ad valorem taxes in one payment."

Failure to pay the second installment after 90 days will result in a 10 percent penalty.

Starting in 2011, the first installment will be due Oct. 1. The second installment would then be due Dec. 1.

The commissioners agreed Thursday that without the 5 percent penalty they are comfortable with biannual billing.

"The people have voted. I don't think there's one precinct that didn't pass it," Commissioner Billy Powell said.

The issue was brought up in June 2008 when longtime Hall County resident Louie Butterworth informed the commission of an old law mandating the county to send out biannual tax bills.

Blalock researched the matter and found that conflicting laws were on the books.

Residents voted in 1974 on a constitutional amendment that would authorize Hall County to divide property taxes into two payments.

In the same year, the Georgia legislature passed a statewide act that granted counties the ability to collect taxes either once or twice a year. In 1975, the same legislature passed a local act directing Hall County to collect taxes twice a year.

The commission decided to put the matter up to voters in a nonbinding ballot question in November 2008.

The answer was overwhelming - 70 percent of voters responded yes to twice-a-year collection.

Late last year, the commission was poised to approve the Oct. 1 and Dec. 1 due dates when they learned of the state law that required a 5 percent penalty if the first installment is not paid by the Oct. 1 due date.

The state penalty was not explained on the ballot the first time, so the commission agreed to put it back on the ballot this November, including language that explains the state law.

The results were once again favorable, with 53 percent of voters responding yes.