Tougher stance on tax collection pays off in Millville

MILLVILLE – The town’s strategy to crack down on tax scofflaws and more aggressively collect delinquent taxes is paying off.

Town Administrator Jennifer Callahan says the town has collected a whopping $243,000 in delinquent taxes since July 1, 2017, an accomplishment she attributes to more aggressive enforcement tools that include eliminating payment plans and getting serious about going after tax title properties.

“This has been an amazing initiative that we’ve already been able to show substantial progress on,” Callahan told the selectmen at a meeting Monday.

Last year, Callahan, Treasurer-Collector Lisa A. Larue and Town Accountant Justin Cole sat down to develop a plan to pursue delinquent property taxes more aggressively. The new strategy brought in $63,000 in delinquent taxes before June 30 of last year, but the big money was collected between July and December.

Under the new plan, the town has eliminated all payment systems that allowed some residents to pay what they owed in installments over time.

“We worked aggressively to ensure that within six months those people had to fully meet their tax obligations to the town,” Callahan said. “We got rid of payment plans for people who could not meet the tax deadlines and even though there was an overall outstanding debt to the town of over $150,000, within six months we have already brought in close to $91,000 of that obligation.”

The second part of the town’s new tax collection strategy is to take a harder stand on tax title properties, which are properties that have unpaid taxes, a lien recorded at the Registry of Deeds, and are subject to foreclosure. From July 1 to Dec. 31, 2017, Callahan says, the town has been able to increase tax title payments to the town to the tune of $89,000.

“If you look at all of this collectively, it’s in the ballpark of about a quarter-million dollars, which is a large sum of money,” Callahan said. “Some of this is onetime money so I don’t want to get ourselves too hooked, but what it does tell us is that if we keep people current on their taxes and meeting their obligations then will contin- ue to be successful putting more money into the town coffers.” Callahan said collecting those delinquent taxes will also help make up for what is expected to be a tight budget year in which the town is already projecting a $500,000 operating deficit.

The town has taken a noticeably more aggressive stand on blighted tax title properties in town. Last month, wrecking crews demolished 35-37 Central St., a condemned building near the post office that formerly housed the Mug Pub. The dilapidated property had been vacant for more than 15 years and was one of the town’s biggest blights.

The selectmen opted not to foreclose on the property, which is a lengthy, costly and time-consuming process, but decided instead to negotiate a deed in lieu of foreclosure agreement with the property owners. A deed in lieu of foreclosure is a transaction where the property owner voluntarily transfers title to the town in exchange for a release from any the tax obligation.