Tax Collectors Office    Mail    Electronic Payment Service     On-Line    
Mortgage Escrow Account     Deputy Collector        

HOW TO PAY A BILL

AT TAX COLLECTORS OFFICE

The office is room 213 in the Town Administration Building at 23 Linden Street. Normal office hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9:00 to 1:00.  The office is also open for collections until 5:00 p.m. on November 1, and May 1.

You may also make a current payment to the Secretary of the Board of Selectmen during that office’s normal business hours.  No other Town employee is authorized to accept your payment.

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BY MAIL

Mail the TOP section only of the bill, along with your payment (no cash in the mail please) to:
          Tax Collector
          P.O. Box 41
          Berlin, MA 01503

Property Taxes are DUE by the date shown on the bill.  “DUE” means Received by the Tax Collector, not the postmark or the date on the check.

If payment is received late, interest is calculated at the rate of 14%, starting from the Issue date of the bill.  This is done automatically based upon the bar-coded information on your bill and the actual date of receipt.

For Example: a tax bill for which payment is only one-day late will initially be charged 31 days interest.  If the first payment due was $1,000.00, the second bill will show a carry over amount of $12.54 still due and added to the second payment, for a total of $1,012.54 due.

To avoid this interest charge, please be sure to allow sufficient mailing time to assure that your payment is received by the due date.

Motor Vehicle Excise Taxes are subject to interest at 12% from the first day after the due date.

If you desire a receipt, return the complete bill with payment and a self addressed stamped envelope.

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BY ELECTRONIC PAYMENT SERVICE

If you choose to use an electronic bill paying service, it is important to follow the below listed guidelines in order to assure proper credit:

Use a SEPARATE check for each bill:  This avoids arithmetic errors that can affect proper credit.  Remember, by law Motor Vehicle Excise taxes must be paid in full.

Reference Information:  Reference the Bill Number, including the two-letter extension (i.e. 1234RE, 123PP, 12FA).  Care must be used in some systems as old references are sometimes shown on the check.

Taxpayers Name:  If the name on the check is different from the name on the Bill, it would be helpful to include in the reference, at least the last name of the taxpayer.

Lead-time:  If payment is received in our office after the due date, interest and penalties may be accrued.  Use of the electronic service does not assure instant payment.  The service MAILS the checks, consequently, sufficient lead-time must be allowed for their processing as well as the mail time.

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BY ON-LINE PAYMENT

To accommodate our residents who want the convenience of paying current Berlin Taxes on-line, we’ve arranged for an on-line payment option for current taxes.

Payment is through a secure site at UniBank.  UniBank does not represent the Town, but is acting as your agent, and does not relieve you of the responsibility for timely payment.

UniBank provides this service at no cost to the Town.  If you are paying by check, there is no charge to you.  If you use a credit card, however, you will be responsible for the credit card charges.  Master Charge and Discover Card are accepted.  There is no VISA Card at this time.  The credit card cost is as follows:

CREDIT CARD SERVICE FEE SCHEDULE

Transaction Amounts Between			Service Fee
Minimum	Maximum
$0.00	$99.99		$2.50
$100.00	$199.99		$5.00
$200.00	$399.99		$10.00
$400.00	$699.99		$17.50
$700.00	$1,099.99		$27.50
$1,100.00	$1,599.99		$40.00
$1,600.00	$2,299.99		$57.50
$2,300.00	$3,099.99		$77.50
$3,100.00	$3,999.99		$100.00
$4,000.00	$4,999.99		$125.00
$5,000.00	$6,099.99		$152.50
$6,100.00	$7,299.99		$182.50
$7,300.00	$8,599.99		$215.00
$8,600.00	$9,999.99		$250.00
$10,000.00	$11,999.99		$262.00
$12,000.00	$14,999.99		$375.00

 

To pay your Excise Taxes or Property Taxes, have your bill and checkbook/credit card in hand, and then click on the following to go to on-line payments, and complete each screen to process your payment.  When entering Bill Number, enter only the numeric portion of the Bill Number, for instance, 1234, not 1234RE.
  
https://unipaygold.unibank.com/Default.aspx?customerid=514 

 

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BY MORTGAGE ESCROW ACCOUNT

If you have an escrow account with your mortgage holder, please make any inquires as to payment method directly to them. Most mortgage companies arrange to get tax information directly from us either directly or through a third party service provider, but some still require the homeowner to forward them the bill.

If you have changed mortgage companies recently, it would be wise to check with this office to see if proper payment was made. (978) 838-2765

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BY DEPUTY COLLECTOR

Delinquent Motor Vehicle and Personal Property Taxes for which a Warrant has been issued, may be paid directly to the Deputy Collector.  Call Kelly and Ryan at (508) 473-9660 for payment information

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