Real Estate and Personal Property Taxes

Bills
Real estate property tax bills are mailed twice a year, with quarterly payments due February 1st, May 1st, August 1st and November 1st.
 
Personal property tax bills are mailed once a year, with payments due on February 1st and May 1st.
 
August and November tax bills are referred to as the “Preliminary Bills” as they are based on an estimate of the tax due.  Since our fiscal year runs from July 1 through June 30, these bills are also called first and second quarter bills.  We only issue "preliminary bills" for real estate property tax, not for personal property tax.


February and May bills (third and fourth quarter bills) are referred to as the “Actual Bill”. For real estate property tax, they represent the remaining tax on your property and are based on the actual assessed tax minus the amount already paid in the first and second quarters.  Personal property tax is billed only on these "actual bills", with the tax due split between the February and May bills.

Payments must be received in the tax office by the due date to be considered timely.

If your payment is paid after the due date for any quarter, interest will accrue at 14% per annum of the remainder of the amount due for that quarter.


Any unpaid balances after May 1st may result in tax liens on the property. Tax liens are subject to interest at 16% per annum.

New Owners
Massachusetts General Law requires that the name on tax bills be the owner of record on January 1st.  If you purchase a property after the first of the year, please contact the Assessor’s Office to have the bill directed to you.  You are still responsible for real estate taxes for property that you own, regardless of the name on the bill.

Mortgage Companies
Tax Bills, by law, are sent to the property owner as of January 1st.  If your mortgage company escrows your taxes, you may have to supply them with the tax payment information.