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Town Government & |
Departments: Board of Assessors
Glossary of Terms Abatement: A notice on an approved form to the Board of Assessors that the taxpayer disagrees with the assessment on his/her real or personal property. This must be filed no later than the due date of the 3rd quarter bill. This is usually February 1st. Appellate Tax Board: A quasi-judicial board for taxpayer appeal after a Board of Assessors has made a decision regarding an abatement application. Application must be made within three months after the date of decision by the Board of Assessors. Filing information is available at: Appellate Tax Board, 100 Cambridge Street, 2nd Floor, Suite 200, Boston, Ma 02114, 617-727-3100 and their web Site is www.mass.gov/atb/. There is a fee required to file the appeal at this level. CPA - Is the Community Preservation Act. This is a surcharge on the actual tax bill of 1.5 % and applies to all real property. Decision: After review of the abatement application, the Board of Assessors makes its decision on whether to grant or deny the application. Once this is done, the property owner has three months to file with the Appellate Tax Board. Exemption: A tax relief provision under Massachusetts Law for certain qualifying taxpayers: elderly persons, blind persons, disabled veterans, surviving spouse or orphaned minor child, widow or orphaned minor child of a police officer or firefighter, and extreme hardship. Neighborhood Designation: This refers to the neighborhood or section of the Town in which a property is located. It is the means whereby the assessed value of a property reflects the effect of its location within the Town. New Growth: This is the term used to describe the additional Proposition 2 ½ tax revenue raising capacity which is permitted by reason of the new building construction which takes place within the Town. Quarterly Tax Bill: The property tax bill in the Town of Hingham is issued four times a year. The normal due dates are as follows: the first quarter bill of the fiscal year (preliminary) is due on August 1st ; the second (preliminary) on November 1st ; the third (actual) is due on February 1st and the fourth (actual) on May 1st. The third quarter tax bill is the first one to be based on the actual assessment and tax rate for any given fiscal year. Therefore it reflects the calculation of the fiscal year's total tax due and the deduction of the first two preliminary tax payments. The remaining tax due is divided in two to represent the third and fourth quarter tax payments. |
