Rutland Herald
By Lola Duffort
STAFF WRITER | August 12,2016
STAFF WRITER | August 12,2016
KILLINGTON — A new policy shortening the delinquency period for property taxes in town has upset some residents.
“I’ve always paid my taxes. I’m hoping I can pay my taxes,” George Brant, a Killington homeowner and landlord, told the Select Board last week. “But we’ve had a really bad year. Everyone’s down 20, 30, 40 percent up here. Now if we have two, three, more years of that, you’re going to have some delinquent taxes in this town.”
A policy adopted by the Select Board last month eliminates a minimum $500 delinquency amount and shortens the delinquency period from one year to 30 days after the final tax installment is due. After those 30 days are up, the tax collector — in Killington, that’s the town manager — can send a notice to a property owner by certified mail warning them that tax sale procedures could start 30 days after mailing.
The policy also allows delinquent taxpayers to enter into a payment plan with the tax collector to forestall tax sale.
And getting property owners having a tough time paying their taxes on a payment plan is exactly what the town wants, Select Board chairwoman Patty McGrath told Grant.
“I see why you’re thinking it sounds heartless … But the point really isn’t to put things into tax sale. Because that’s not what we want to do,” McGrath said. “Without the tax sale, there’s nothing forcing people to say, hey, I need to pay this, I need to approach the town, I need to make a plan. What we’re looking for is the plan.”
Selectman Chris Bianchi agreed, and said the new policy was more in-line with municipal practice across the state.
“We’re tightening up closer to what every other town in the state of Vermont is doing,” he said.
Jim Haff, a former selectman, jumped into the conversation from the audience. He told the Board his wife had once been hospitalized for over two months — a period of time in which he certainly wasn’t checking his mail.
But ultimately, having gotten on a payment plan himself, Haff said he understood why the town wanted to tighten the timeline.
“As a person who went through it and is going through it, I don’t have a problem with it,” he said. “What I don’t like seeing, in public comments or in the paper, is saying that if everyone paid their taxes on time, we wouldn’t have to borrow the full $900,000 … because we budgeted whatever’s delinquent in our budget.”
The town is currently owed $395,811 in delinquent taxes, Schwartz said Wednesday.
“The idea is to accommodate folks as best I can while ensuring the town receives the receipts it needs,” she said. “I’m looking to serve everybody and the interests of the town — and they go hand-in-hand.”
In a phone interview this week, Grant said he hadn’t changed his mind. And the dozens of people he’d discussed the issue with also agreed, he said.
“If you’re not getting those notices for a couple months … that’s cold. I’m sorry. I just think it’s harsh,” he said.
lola.duffort
“I’ve always paid my taxes. I’m hoping I can pay my taxes,” George Brant, a Killington homeowner and landlord, told the Select Board last week. “But we’ve had a really bad year. Everyone’s down 20, 30, 40 percent up here. Now if we have two, three, more years of that, you’re going to have some delinquent taxes in this town.”
A policy adopted by the Select Board last month eliminates a minimum $500 delinquency amount and shortens the delinquency period from one year to 30 days after the final tax installment is due. After those 30 days are up, the tax collector — in Killington, that’s the town manager — can send a notice to a property owner by certified mail warning them that tax sale procedures could start 30 days after mailing.
The policy also allows delinquent taxpayers to enter into a payment plan with the tax collector to forestall tax sale.
And getting property owners having a tough time paying their taxes on a payment plan is exactly what the town wants, Select Board chairwoman Patty McGrath told Grant.
“I see why you’re thinking it sounds heartless … But the point really isn’t to put things into tax sale. Because that’s not what we want to do,” McGrath said. “Without the tax sale, there’s nothing forcing people to say, hey, I need to pay this, I need to approach the town, I need to make a plan. What we’re looking for is the plan.”
Selectman Chris Bianchi agreed, and said the new policy was more in-line with municipal practice across the state.
“We’re tightening up closer to what every other town in the state of Vermont is doing,” he said.
Jim Haff, a former selectman, jumped into the conversation from the audience. He told the Board his wife had once been hospitalized for over two months — a period of time in which he certainly wasn’t checking his mail.
But ultimately, having gotten on a payment plan himself, Haff said he understood why the town wanted to tighten the timeline.
“As a person who went through it and is going through it, I don’t have a problem with it,” he said. “What I don’t like seeing, in public comments or in the paper, is saying that if everyone paid their taxes on time, we wouldn’t have to borrow the full $900,000 … because we budgeted whatever’s delinquent in our budget.”
The town is currently owed $395,811 in delinquent taxes, Schwartz said Wednesday.
“The idea is to accommodate folks as best I can while ensuring the town receives the receipts it needs,” she said. “I’m looking to serve everybody and the interests of the town — and they go hand-in-hand.”
In a phone interview this week, Grant said he hadn’t changed his mind. And the dozens of people he’d discussed the issue with also agreed, he said.
“If you’re not getting those notices for a couple months … that’s cold. I’m sorry. I just think it’s harsh,” he said.
lola.duffort
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