Mary P. Nork & Linda G. Walczak
Mary P. Nork, Tax Collector
Linda Walczak, Assistant
Hours: Monday through Wednesday
9am to 4pm
Thursday 9am to 7pm
Friday 9am to noon
Notice: Tax Office Closed June 30th to close the year and prepare for the new Fiscal Year July 1, 2010
Greetings from the Tax Office. Linda and I are preparing for our next Grand List billing that will be due July 1, 2010 and the second installment due January 1, 2011. They are labeled 2009 Grand List to identify the date the assessment was captured, not the payment period. For Real Estate Tax, the period you pay goes forward from the due dates July and January. For Personal Property, both business and vehicle tax, the July payment covers from the assessment date of October 1 2009 to September 30, 2010.
We are gearing up for a June 14th mailing but you should expect to receive the bills no later then July 3rd. Each bill will consist of a sheet of three perforated bills. The top copy should be KEPT for your records. Please put this copy in a safe place for 2010 and 2011 income taxes. If you loose or misplace it and you need the record to claim on federal or state tax, you must send a written request for payment history. Each print out will cost 50 cents. We do these requests in the order we receive them, immediately after our collection period has been completed, approximately from February 12th. The middle and bottom perforated copies are to be sent in with your payments. Bottom perforation is for first payment (July), the middle portion is for the January installment.
We are presently collecting on delinquencies from the 2008GL and all prior Grand Lists that have not been fully paid. A lien will be placed on properties with outstanding Real Estate tax balances and will be filed in the Haddam Land Records on May 1st. In June, we will prepare approximately 14,000 bills for the 2009GL to be mailed.
For all accounts that are escrowed for taxes, bills are sent to the finance agency that had requested them prior to the 10th of May. If you are escrowing for taxes and you have received the Real Estate bill in July, you should forward that information to your lending agency that you are escrowing with, along with your loan number. If you are no longer escrowing and are now responsible for the taxes, but have not received a bill, you must call our office and request a print out of the Real Estate bill.
All RE & PP addresses and values are provided to us from the records of the Assessor’s Office. Their policy is that it is the taxpayer’s responsibility to make sure they have the correct address. So if you have moved or opened a PO Box, you need to inform the Assessor’s Office.
If you have had an automobile for several years and have not received a tax bill for it, you should call our office (345-8531, x206) to see if we have it on our Grand List. Possibly the wrong address information was reported to us from DMV. This is information that needs to be updated at Motor Vehicles to assure your registration renewals will be sent to the correct address. Failure to receive tax bills does not invalidate the tax or interest that may have accrued. So call us early in July to see why you haven’t received your bill.
NEW SERVICES:
The Tax Department has just recently utilized a new service, where by a current file of tax accounts are available to view through this web site. If you have lost your bill or possibly you escrow your taxes and just want to see if the bank has paid, you can click on the above blue line that says “click to view tax records”. That will link you to the sight where all the tax accounts are. These records are brought up to date every twenty four hours.
DIRECTIONS: 1.) You must agree to a disclaimer which will access you to the search page.
2.) Only submit the information you are absolutely positive of; such as the last name or . the address. Do not confuse the search with too much information.
3.) Scroll down from the search page to review the results of the search.
4.)Pick the bill you are searching for; and for more detail click on the bill number.
5.)In order to get back to the list of bills, click the button on top that says “view all bills”. At this point you can pick another bill to view details of, or scroll back up to the top and do another search. We are very excited about this service, and we hope you find it useful too.
The other service that had been implemented was the ability for a taxpayer to be able to pay on line. Our office has been working with a company named MCC, or Metropolitan Communication Corporation. They have been servicing payments on line for us since 2007, and many taxpayers love the added option of doing an electric transfer or pay taxes with a credit card. They also love the idea that they get an automatic reminder of the second half becoming due. I do not allow MCC to collect on delinquencies. So if you have current bills due and you want to find out more about this service, go to the “Questions and Answers” portion of this web site, where it is highlighted “Payment on line…”
Many of you may have questions regarding your taxes. I have compiled some of the most often asked questions and have tried to answer them in a clear and concise manner, in an attempt to save you a call.
Q’s & A ’s:
What is the best way to make payments? Checks made payable to: Town of Haddam should be mailed to Haddam Tax Office 30 Field Park Dr. Haddam, CT 06438-1196; along with the portion of the perforated bill (s) you wish to pay. Please verify the total, and the check written amount. Also make sure check is signed. If you have inadvertently written the incorrect amount or failed to sign the check, you may be left with taxes past due. If we have to return a check to be corrected and it is returned to us after the grace period interest will have accrued.
To receive a receipt for payment made through the mail, you must include a stamped, self-addressed envelope with your payment. A register receipt of all payments will be returned to you in the envelope provided.
If you have online checking and you arrange for the financial institution to send a check payment through their payment-processing center, I urge you to list all List Numbers found on each individual bill. One check can be totaled for a number of bills, but because payment stubs will not be included with the payment, the List Numbers would be the only way of knowing what you intended to pay. The List numbers change from year to year, so this information would have to be updated annually. I also urge you to make these payments early. It takes several days for the bank to process the payment, plus they do not use postmarks, so our office accepts payment as day received.
If a receipt is still needed for this type of payment, a separate written request, noting all list numbers, must be made to the tax office. We will respond to your request after the tax season has ended. A fifty-cent charge per bill will apply, which would be paid at the time of pickup. (Note-we will not mail these receipts)
Payment on line by electric transfer from your checking account or by credit card (MasterCard, Visa, American Express, or Discover) may be made through a twenty-four hour service we have contracted with, known as MCC. And this service can be accessed through a link from this wed site. Look for the Pay on Line in the menu options of the haddam.org home page. It will allow their registered clients to bring up their bills by List Number for each type of tax (RE, PP, and MV). Each type must be done separately. However if there are a number of vehicles listed on one bill, they should all be brought up by the seven digit number that is preceded with the letters MV or MVS. Do not use the letters in your search. The RE and PP bills will be identified with a seven digit number starting with zero, immediately found after the 2009-01 or the 2009-02 in the List Number box. These numbers will be found on the bills mailed out to you. After registering, you will create your own password. The site is completely secure, and if you decide to pay from your checking account there will be a 35cent fee per bill. If you decide to pay by credit card, the charges are higher, because the credit card company charges by %. You will know exactly what those charges will be before you have agreed to pay. So if you do not like the charges, you can either go back to choose payment through your checking account or cancel the transaction completely. Once you have created an account and have chosen to pay through their service, they will remind you of the next tax to become due, through your e-mail address. Also, a record of all that you have paid and when you paid it will be stored and accessible by your password when you need that information at income tax time, or any other time.
Payments made in person may be made at the Town Office Building, 30 Field Park Dr., with a personal check, bank check, money order, or cash. No credit cards are accepted at the payment window. The tax office is located on the second floor at the right of the staircase. Our hours through out the year are Monday thru Wednesday 9AM to 4PM. Thursday 9AM to 7PM. Friday 9AM to NOON. It will be very helpful, and expedite the payment process if you bring in your tax bills with your calculated payment.
All payments must be received in the office or postmarked on or before the end of the collection period (August 1 and February 1) to avoid penalty
When I pay my bills, what period of time are they for? When you are paying the 2009GL bills the Real Estate taxes cover the period going forward from the due date. So if you’re paying the first installment that covers from July 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010. The second installment covers from January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011.
For Personal Property and automobile taxes the period covered is different then RE. They cover from the date of assessment of October 1, 2009, and cover to September 30, 2010. However they become due July 1, 2010.
How are my taxes computed? Your taxes are computed by multiplying the current net assessed value of your property by the current mil rate. The mil rate is set each year in May for the next Grand List (2009). The assessed value is determined every four years. The last reevaluation was October 1, 2005. Questions regarding assessments should be addressed to the Assessors Office, 860-345-8531 x 213 or 226.
What happens if my taxes become delinquent? Interest is assessed on all balances past due on the first of the month at the rate of 1.5% per month calculated from the DUE DATE or if prior month interest has been paid, interest is calculated from the date of last payment. There is a minimum interest charge of $2.00 per bill.
The tax office is required by state statute to apply payment to the oldest outstanding bill first, and interest must be paid before anything gets applied to principal.
Delinquent real estate taxes will be subject to a lien placed in the land records at a fee of $24 if there is a remaining balance on April 30. The lien will be filed on May 1st.
Personal property is subject to a lien placed with the State of Connecticut if unpaid by October 31st.
Motor Vehicle registrations will not be processed by DMV until the taxes are paid in full. Cash, Money Order or Certified Bank Check, for the exact amount will allow us to give an immediate clearance. If you pay by personal check, you must wait 10 workdays before a clearance can be given. You can pick up the clearance or have it mailed to you after this ten-day waiting period.
What if I did not receive a tax bill? If you did not receive a tax bill for property you own, promptly contact the Tax Office. State Statue 12-130 states that failure to receive a bill does not invalidate the tax.
What if I no longer own the real estate for a bill received? Please notify us immediately if you receive a bill for property that has been transferred to another owner. It takes some time for that information to reach the tax office, so you will be doing a big favor to our office and to the new owners if you let us know. Since we do not have duplicate bills printed up with payment stubs, it would be very much appreciated if you could mail it back to us so we can get it to the new owners.
What if I have or had an escrow account for my real estate taxes? If you have an escrow account the bills are sent to your financial agency. If the bill was sent to you instead of your mortgage company, please forward the bill to them without delay. Provide them with your Loan# from which taxes will be paid. If you no longer have an escrow account and you did not receive a bill, please call us immediately. We will send you a copy of the bill. If you are responsible for payment, please be aware that the second half that becomes due in January is not re-billed. The copy that is sent to you should be kept for your January amount as well. If the original bill is returned to us from the prior escrow company we will send it out to you for your records.
What if I disposed of this vehicle and transferred the plate to another vehicle? Pay the July bill in full. In December you will receive a bill for the new vehicle appropriately credited for the old vehicle payment you made in July.
What if I no longer own the motor vehicle or have moved out of state? You may be entitled to a tax credit if you no longer own the vehicle or have moved out of state. You must provide the Assessors Office with substantiating information. The information must specifically identify the vehicle by Vin # as well as indicate proof of transfer of ownership. The transfer date will determine the credit amount.
Your Connecticut plates must also be returned to the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles. Please request a receipt. If you are not doing this in person, include a stamped self-addressed envelope with your request. See the Assessors site for a list of acceptable forms of proof that will allow your bill to be removed or pro-rated down.
What tax reduction programs are available? Numerous programs are available through the Assessors Office. They include exemptions for Veterans, Disabled, and Senior Citizen abatement or deferment programs. If you believe you qualify for any of these programs and you are not receiving benefits, please contact the Assessors Office (860) 345-8531 ext. 213 or 226.
Should you have any other questions regarding your town taxes, please call the Tax office (860) 345-8531 ext. 206 or 207. Linda and I will try to help you, and answer any concerns you may have.
Mary P. Nork CCMC Haddam Tax Collector
