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2024 Important Tax Information:

♦ PROPERTY TAXES ARE DUE BY 4 P.M. ON THURSDAY , OCT. 3rd, 2024:

To avoid a late penalty (8%), taxes must be received by 4 p.m. on 10/03/24. Payments may be placed in the drop box to the left of the front door, made online by clicking on the MuniciPay link (halfway down this page), or pay in-person at the Town Office.

There are two MuniciPay options for online payments, credit card or e-check. Be aware, if you choose ‘key enter card’ on the third screen to enter your credit card number, you will be charged an additional 2.65% user fee on top of your normal credit card interest fee. If you choose the ‘e-check’ option and enter your bank routing/account number, there is a $1.50 additional user fee. We receive online payments immediately and you receive an online confirmation sent to your email account. Postmarks are not accepted and will be assessed an 8% late fee if the payment is received after 4 p.m. on October 3rd, 2024.

Tax Year: January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024

Tax bills will be mailed July 22, 2024.

2024 TAX RATES:

  • Municipal Tax Rate: $0.8925/per $100 assessed value
  • Veterans Exemption: $0.0049/per $100 assessed value
  • Homestead Education Tax Rate: $2.6409/per $100 assessed value
  • Non Homestead Tax Rate: $2.8047/per $100 assessed value
  • Westfield’s CLA for 2024: 72.93%

DUE DATE:

Due dates for property taxes are voted on at the Annual Town Meeting. All tax payments are due at the Town Clerk/Treasurer’s Office by 4:00 PM on the due date. Postmarks are not accepted.

  • Payment Due Date: October 3, 2024 (NEW — First Thursday of October, each year)

An 8% penalty on the unpaid principal will be charged immediately if payment is not received in full by the due date as provided by 32 V.S.A. §1674. Additionally, an interest rate of 1% per month, for the first three months and 1.5% thereafter on unpaid balances per 32 V.S.A. §4873.

PAYMENT METHOD:

Payments are accepted at the office, by mail or in the secure drop-box to the left of the front door at the Town Clerk’s office. Make checks payable to Town of Westfield. The mailing address is 38 School Street, Westfield, VT 05874. Please do not mail cash or leave cash in the drop-box.

Postdated checks or other checks not meeting the requirements will be returned and penalties will be added if applicable. All checks returned by the bank for any reason will cause the payment and receipt to be voided and delinquent penalties will be added, if this occurs after the due date. 

ONLINE PAYMENT OPTION:

Credit card and e-check payments are accepted by clicking on this link or the MuniciPay logo to pay by credit card or e-check. Simply enter your Parcel ID (from your tax bill), choose the payment amount and method of payment or you may pay by credit card or e-check at the Town Office. Please note: credit card payments incur a 2.65% fee* and e-check payments are $1.50 flat rate fee.* (*fees are charged by the MuniciPay clearinghouse not the Town of Westfield) 

HOMESTEAD DECLARATION/PROPERTY TAX CREDIT:

Property owners in Vermont are required by statute to annually file a HS-122 Vermont Homestead Declaration. Filing HS-122 is how the State informs the town that the taxpayer receives either the homestead education rate or the non-residential education rate. Property owners who qualify and have filed their annual Property Tax Credit Claim/Household Income (HI-144) with the Vermont Department of Taxes, by the due date, may see a property tax adjustment in the form of a credit on their tax bill. Learn more at https://tax.vermont.gov/property-owners/homestead-declaration.    

CHANGE OF ADDRESS:

You must notify the town of any mailing address changes at 802-744-2484 or email townofwestfield@comcast.net.

TRANSFER OF PROPERTY:

By law, taxes are levied on the property as it exists for the owner of record on April 1st prior to the start of the tax year. Tax bills are mailed to the April 1st owner of record at the address on file with the Lister’s Office. 

  • If your property is sold after April 1st, it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to forward the tax bill to the new owner and the new owner’s responsibility to take notice of the due dates. 
  • If your property is subdivided after April 1st your bill contains taxes due on the entire parcel. It is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to make sure the entire tax bill is paid in full for the year.

You must contact your attorney for prorated taxes or funds being held in escrow on the sale and/or division of the property as our office does not know what arrangements have been made regarding who is to pay the taxes at the time of transfer.

LATE PAYMENTS:

Tax payments received after 4 p.m. on October 3, 2024 are considered delinquent. Please remember POSTMARKS ARE NOT ACCEPTED so allow adequate time when mailing your tax payment. Delinquent taxes are subject to interest and penalties and are immediately turned over to the Delinquent Tax Collector, Lisa Deslandes.

Westfield Delinquent Tax Collection Policy

The Town of Westfield follows a Delinquent Tax Collection policy for collecting delinquent town taxes. The purpose of this policy is to establish clear guidelines so that all delinquent taxpayers will be treated fairly and will know what to expect. Provisions of Vermont Statutes will be adhered to in order to ensure that the delinquent taxpayer is afforded the necessary “due process”.

  1. As soon as the delinquent tax warrant has been received, and each month thereafter, for ninety (90) days, the Delinquent Tax Collector will send a notice to each delinquent taxpayer indicating the amount of taxes, penalty and interest owed.
  2. Partial payments will be applied first to the interest due in full, and the remainder will be divided proportionally between the principal, collection and penalty amount due.
  3. Certified notices will be mailed after the close of business on February 1st. Associated mailing costs will be charged to delinquent taxpayers.
  4. If the balance is not paid in full within 30 days of the certified notice, the Delinquent Tax Collector will seek the authorization of the Selectboard to engage a Tax Sale Attorney to send demand payment letters to delinquent taxpayers.
  5. If the balance is not paid in full within 30 days of the demand letter, then the Delinquent Tax Collector will seek the authorization of the Selectboard to engage a Tax Sale Attorney and initiate tax sale proceedings against each delinquent property.
  6. Each taxpayer has a right to apply for abatement of property taxes based on any of the grounds listed in 24 V.S.A. § 1535. Taxpayers who would like to request an abatement must contact the Town Clerk to request a meeting of the Board of Abatement.
  7. If no one purchases the property at tax sale, or if, in the judgment of the tax collector, proceeding with the tax sale is inadvisable, the tax collector may collect the delinquent taxes using any or all of the methods permitted by law.
  8. The owner may request in writing, not less than 24 hours prior to the tax sale, that a portion of the property be sold.  Such request must clearly identify the portion of the property to be sold and must be accompanied by a certification from the Vermont District Environmental Commission and the town zoning administrative officer that the portion identified may be subdivided and meets minimum lot size requirements.  In the event that the portion identified by the taxpayer cannot be sold for the tax and costs, then the entire property may be sold to pay such tax and costs.

This policy may be amended at any time by the Selectboard and/or the Delinquent Tax Collector of the Town of Westfield, Vermont as provided by law.

Delinquent Tax Policy

Visit the Vermont Department of Taxes  to get HS-122 Vermont Homestead Declaration and Property Tax Credit Claim and HI-144 Household Income forms. https://tax.vermont.gov/property-owners/homestead-declaration. The Vermont Homestead Declaration form must be filed each year by every Vermont resident whose property meets the definition of a homestead.

If you do not file the annual Homestead Declaration form your property taxes will be billed at the non-residential education tax rate.

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