It’s an odd juxtaposition of stories.

On one hand, Rockland County government extends the period people get to catch up with their unpaid property taxes before the parcel can be put up for foreclosure auction.

Good thing, given the state of the economy.

But the day after the County Legislature extends the period from two years to three, some taxpayers get notices from the county that they didn’t pay their quarterly county property tax bill due in October.

Why? Well, they never got the customary notice from the county that the bill was due.

Sure, people should know. And yes, the notice was a courtesy. But with lots of people scraping by financially, any bill that doesn’t show up is a bill that’s not getting priority. Those bucks get sucked up by higher priorities — like the bills one has in hand.

The county is looking into why the notices didn’t go out and scrambling to figure out how to make the situation right.

People are now in the hole, not only for the bill they owed, but for interest, a processing fee and according to the letter we got in Nanuet, penalties as well.

This isn’t just a case of the notices not going out.

Realizing that she hasn’t seen the notice, my fiance called the county and was  assured that, no, her account was up to date and that nothing would be due until January.

Not so, it turns out.

Legislature Chairwoman Harriet Cornell says the lawmakers will do whatever they can to rectify the situation.

Because state law precludes the county waiving the fees, the legislature will have to act to make refunds of the fees legal.

Legislator Alden Wolfe, who pushed the extension on paying off back taxes, first tried to get it enacted in August, but it took until November,

Let’s hope his colleagues can make this fix faster than that.