While the Moretown Select Board sorts out when to hold a revote on the special article calling for the select board versus the voters to choose a delinquent tax collector, it’s worth noting that a letter the board sent to 22 people who paid their taxes late yielded only one response.
At January and February meetings of the select board, members discussed sending a letter to taxpayers who were assessed a penalty for late payment of property taxes in November 2015. That letter was to clarify for taxpayers that they were assessed late fees because the town had voted at Town Meeting 2015 to change the due date for taxes and to let taxpayers know that they could apply to have those penalties abated. The letter included the abatement form.
The select board said the letter was sent to 22 late payers on February 11. It seems odd that only one of the 22 late payers responded to the letter with a request for abatement. That late-payer’s request for abatement was heard at the board of abatement’s April hearing and approved, but not without dissent from board members who objected to the finding that there had been a “manifest error” on the part of the town.
In December, the board of abatement waived the fees for another late payer, finding that the change in due date constituted manifest error. At the April hearing, dissenters pointed out that the change in due date was clearly marked on the tax bills and that a finding of manifest error was inappropriate.
Those words, manifest error, were not used in the letter from the select board to the late payers and the letter did not actually make clear that the taxpayers were encouraged to apply for abatements. Had the letter explained that a finding of manifest error had already been made and a late payer had already had their penalties and fees waived, the response to the letter might have been greater.
It’s odd that 21 of the 22 people who were sent the letter didn’t follow up and seek abatement. These are not small fees. Late taxes result in an 8 percent penalty plus 1 percent per month.
Given that the select board reported it, got a lot of grief from those who paid late and were assessed fees, why such a poor response?
