PERSONAL PROPERTY TAXES
BILLING
These taxes are collected Semi-Annually for a Fiscal Year that begins
6 months prior to the calendar year. (i.e. 7/1/07 to 6/30/08 is FY
2008)
The first half of the tax is due November first (11/1), or 30 days
after the mailing of the bill.
The second half of the tax is due May first (5/1), or 30 days after
the mailing of the bill.
If a total annual tax is less that Fifty Dollars ($50.00) only one
bill will be sent for the full amount.
If a valuation is less than Two Thousand Dollars, there will be no
levy made.
Per State Statute, tax bills must be mailed to the owner of record
as of January 1 prior to the start of the Fiscal Year on July1. We
update for known address changes through the end of August prior
to mailing the first bill, and any update received prior to the mailing
of the second half bill on April 1. If you do not receive
a bill, you should contact this office.
Failure to receive a bill does not affect the validity of the tax
or interest and penalties incurred until collected.
Back to top
PAYMENT
You may pay at the Tax Collectors office with either check or exact
cash.
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, 2007 and May 1, 2008.
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.
You may 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
If you wish to have a receipt, please enclose a self-addressed, stamped
envelope and the entire bill with your payment.
If you use an automated bill paying system, please be sure to include
the type, year and bill number on your payment. (i.e. 2008 #
123 PP). Also, please allow sufficient time for the service
company to mail the payment.
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 $1,00.00, the second
bill will show a carry over amount of $1.25 still
due and added to the second payment, for a total of $1,01.25 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.
If you have any questions on this please call me and I will be pleased
to explain it.
Although not required by law, we do send reminder in January for
any past due taxes. A Demand Notice indicating the current
Fiscal Year outstanding balance, plus interest and penalty, is
issued after the May first (5/1) due date.
Back to top
ABATEMENTS
Application for Personal
Property Tax Abatements must be filed by thirty days from the
mailing of the first half tax bills, usually November first. The actual Abatement date is shown on the bill. This
application must be received by the Assessors
Office by that date. For further information and proper forms,
pleased contact the Assessors Office at (978) 838-2256.
Back to top
REFUNDS
Any refunds resulting from an overpayment or an abatement will not
be made if there are any other outstanding taxes.
Back to top
