AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Travis County Tax Office asked the county attorney to file almost 400 delinquent property tax lawsuits in May.

Among the lawsuits are 181 personal property, 164 real estate and a few mobile home accounts totaling about $6 million in delinquent taxes.

More than 19,000 delinquent property tax accounts, totaling about $52 million, were sent to the county attorney to start the foreclosure process.

On May 18, the tax office released the Top 10 delinquent taxpayers in the county. Only two businesses on that list have paid their delinquent taxes in full: Bird Rides Inc., owners of Austin rental scooters, and DM Estate LLC.

The tax office sent letters and made phone calls in an attempt to collect overdue property taxes, but if property owners do not respond, the tax office must forward the delinquent accounts to the county attorney. These taxes fund emergency services, schools, courts, parks, law enforcement, cities, and counties.

“The very last thing we want to do is take away property from their owners, and we offer them every opportunity to set up a payment plan, but they need to talk to us,” Elfant said. “Once we file a lawsuit, you can still pay your delinquent taxes along with penalty, interest and attorney fees right up to the moment the property is auctioned off.”

In comparison, Williamson and Hays Counties revealed $11.2 million and nearly $8.1, million, respectively, in unpaid taxes are still owed to both counties for the 2021 financial year.

Each tax office sent KXAN its top 10 list of delinquent taxpayers for 2021.