GREENFIELD — Just about six weeks after the city initiated the tax title taking process with 41 properties, 14 property owners have paid off their tax title balance, according to Tax Collector Kelly Varner.
The remaining properties have not contacted the office for assistance or payment plans, she said.
In the April 15 edition of the Greenfield Recorder, 41 properties were listed in a legal notice announcing the city’s intention to “take for Greenfield … for non-payment after demand, of the taxes due thereon, with interest and all incidental expenses to the date of taking, unless the same shall have been paid before the date.”
Of the properties listed, a handful are identified as parcels of land, while others appear to be private residences, multi-family homes or commercial properties.
Varner previously explained that when a property owner doesn’t pay taxes for the previous fiscal year, the city sends a demand notice at the end of the current one. Two subsequent letters are sent after that, advising the owner to make the necessary payments to prevent the start of the tax title process.
Taxpayers often have up to a year to pay off the taxes owed, Varner noted, and the city works with property owners to set up a payment plan.
Two properties at 393 Main St., where Greenfield Community Television’s offices are located, were included in the listing. Chief Assessor Randy Austin said this was a result of GCTV not applying for a tax abatement in the necessary timeframe following receipt of its tax bill. Austin said he is working with the business owner to correct the error in accordance with Massachusetts General Law Chapter 58, Section 8, which authorizes local assessors to abate local taxes in cases where they do not otherwise have the authority to do so.
“I have lost the authority to do an abatement, so through this process, we’re able to request permission from the commissioner of revenue to get that permission,” Austin explained.
He added that in the case of GCTV, the nonprofit is not a new business and missing this abatement application was “just a hiccup.”
“I’m hoping for the best and looking to work with (the state) to get the permission to have the authority to straighten out the situation,” Austin said.
Compared to the 41 properties listed for fiscal year 2022, Varner said the city typically begins the tax title taking process on as many as 60 or 70 homes each year. In nearly all cases, the city doesn’t end up foreclosing on the properties.
Still, the tax title taking process has become known as “home equity theft” by opponents, who argue against the practice in which the foreclosing entity retains the title of the home, with nothing returned to the property owner. Massachusetts is in the minority of states with this practice, according to Joshua Polk, an attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation who practices in the area of economic liberty and property rights.
At the state level, legislators are trying to address this, he said. A bill, H 3053, would improve the notice procedures for people undergoing tax foreclosure proceedings and also guarantee that any excess proceeds generated by tax sales are returned to the original property owner.
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne