Flathead County property owners have less than two weeks to return the first installment of this year’s property taxes.

The first installment of real estate taxes must be paid by Nov. 30 and this year’s tax bills must be paid in full by May 31, 2016.

The county mailed 58,286 tax bills for taxes totaling $153.6 million, Flathead County Treasurer Adele Krantz said. That compares to 57,894 bills sent in 2014 for property taxes totaling $153.9 million.

Delinquent property taxes currently total just $423,359 as of Nov. 13. Over the last few years, private third-party investors have been buying tax liens.

Montana allows the transfer of delinquent liens to the private sector, and companies are buying them at a fast pace, according to Krantz.

Property owners with delinquent taxes have three years to pay the back taxes. If they don’t, the county issues a tax deed to the lienholder in exchange for the delinquent taxes, interest and penalties.

The amount of protested taxes as of Oct. 31 was $259,572.