2010 Preliminary Real Estate and Personal Property Bills

Preliminary bills were mailed June 30, 2009. These are for the fiscal year beginning on July 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010. Preliminary bills are due on October 5, 2009. For more information about preliminary bills and how they work, click here. Please note that preliminary bills are based on 2009 tax bill amounts and do not contain any valuation information. This will be included on the 'actual' bill which will come out in January and be due in April or May.

2009 Real Estate and Personal Property Bills were mailed March 6, 2009. The first half was due in April, and the 2nd half was due in May. These bills were for the tax year from July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009. The bill contained two coupons, one for each payment. The April payment was for the tax bill that would normally have gone out the prior fall.

 

If you have questions about your property valuation or description, or about tax abatements or exemptions, you should contact the Board of Assessors at 978-249-0337.

For questions about payments, contact us at 978-249-2927.

Who Gets the Real Estate Bill?

The tax bill is sent to the owner of record. That is the person that owned the property on January 1st of the year preceding the 'tax year'.

For example, on January 1st, 2008 a property was owned by Jill Jones, and on January 2nd, 2008 the property was sold to Mae West, then the 2009 tax bills (period of July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009) would be sent to Jill Jones. This is according to state law and is automated in the tax bill computer system.

We also try to determine the current property owners and send them copies of the bill, but we are not required to do so.

It's also important to know that you are responsible for paying your bill on time even if you don't receive a copy of your bill. We try very hard to make sure you do, but sometimes it seems like they never arrive.

We're always happy to send you a copy of the bill. Just give us a call.

 

Excise Bills

Excise bills are issued by the State of Massachusetts directly from the Registry. The information on these bills is directly from their system. If you need to change an address or other information, please do so directly at the Registry.

Delinquent Excise Bills are handled by the Deputy Tax Collector: Jeffey and Jeffrey. If you receive a notice from the Registry that you can't renew your license because of an excise bill, you should contact Jeffrey and Jeffrey directly. They are located in Ware, MA.

Excise Bills and abatements

A frequent question that comes up is if you have to pay an excise bill even though you sold your vehicle, or returned the plates, or it was only registered for a few days.

The answer is YES!

The Registry charges a fee for the privilege of having your vehicle on the road for any portion of a year, even if it is one day. The good news is that you can file for an abatement with the Assessor's Department. Please contact them for a form. They can be reached at 978-249-0337.

The assessors have up to 3 months to process your abatement, so you need to pay your bill before the due date to make sure you don't get extra fees and interest. A refund will then be issued to you for the amount abated. The Assessors will send you a form indicating the amount abated. The collector can not take a partial payment for excise taxes, so if you have not received your abatement by the time the bill is due, you must pay it in full.