The Tax Collector's Department distributes the real estate, personal property and motor vehicle excise bills (commitments) to the residents of the Town of Wakefield and collects the taxes in a timely fashion from the taxpayers. In addition, the department is responsible for the collection only (not the billing) of the water/sewer payments.
As part of their mission, the staff will perform the duties and responsibilities in a manner consistent with the statutory requirements of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and will maintain, at all times, a courteous and respectful attitide towards the taxpayers and the public in general.
ONLINE PAYMENT CENTER
GO GREEN PAY ONLINE!!
To accommodate our residents who want the convenience of paying real estate and personal property taxes online, we have added a new payment option. The Town of Wakefield is pleased to introduce the "Online Payment Center" with the 3rd quarter actual 2006 real estate and personal property bills. To pay online, have your bill and checkbook or credit card in hand, and then......
* cllick on "Online Payment Center"
* cllick on "Select Activity"
* complete each screen to process your payment
PLEASE REFER TO YOUR CHECK NOT A DEPOSIT SLIP WHEN PROVIDING YOUR ROUTING NUMBER AND BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER. CHECK WITH YOUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION TO VERIFY THE CORRECT ROUTING NUMBER
There is no charge for the service when paying with your check, BUT there is a fee charged to the taxpayer when paying with your credit card. The taxpayer may use MasterCard and Discover should the payment by credit card be selected.
NEW! NEW! NEW!
Effective July 14, 2006, the Online Payment Center has been expanded to include the water/sewer payments. The first water/sewer bills will be mailed on July 14, 2006. While half of the town will receive the bill from that initial mailing, the bills for the remainder of the town will be mailed on July 21st and July 28th. All the billing will be completed by the end of July.
The process for residents to pay is simple. With your bill and checkbook or charge in hand, follow the prompts from the “Online Payment Center”:
· select the activity (water)
· provide the 8 digit account number (not the bill number)
· complete each screen to process the payment
· for assistance, call 781-246-6305 (water/sewer department)
It is important to remember that the bill is necessary to complete the online payment. There are two different amounts and due dates on the bill. The payment amount depends on the date when payment is made….if the date falls within the discounted payment period, pay that amount; however, if the payment is made after the early due date, then the larger amount is due and payable. Upon receipt, the DPW will properly allocate the amount paid.
We encourage you to use the new online service which is convenient, fast and secure. Please remember that this is an online service, not a service that is available at the Tax Collector's counter at the William J. Lee Memorial Town Hall.
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ARE YOU CURRENTLY USING YOUR BANK'S ONLINE PAYMENT SERVICE TO PAY TOWN OF WAKEFIELD'S BILLS?
If the answer is yes, please use the required format to ensure your accounts are properly credited:
Payment Type Account Number Memo
Real Estate Map, Block, Lot (rt hand corner of bill) Tax Year & bill #
Motor Vehicle Excise Plate # Tax Year & bill #
Water/Sewer 8 digit Account # N/A
Tax Billing Concerns
One area that needs to be addressed is the fact that there are three mailings of the tax bills, yet there are payments due four times per year. The preliminary bills are mailed the end of June. With that mailing, the taxpayers receive two payment coupons: one for the first preliminary payment due August 1st (or the next business day) and another for the second preliminary payment due November 1st. It has always been the practice to send two payment coupons for the preliminary bills.
Historically, two coupons were mailed for the preliminary bills and two coupons were mailed for the actual bills; however, that practice to include two coupons for the actual bill changed with the change in the computer system. With the implementation of the Point Revenue Collection system in 1999, a third mailing was introduced with the actual bill, not the preliminary bill. The practice of a single mailing with two coupons was replaced with an additional mailing. The additional third mailing was in the latter part of March for the actual payment due May 1st. No change was made to the preliminary billing (two coupons).
At times, there appears to be some difficulty remembering the November payment. We remind the taxpayers of the November due date by placing a notice in the local newspaper and putting a message on the bill itself. This year, we made the preliminary bill two tone – the August coupon was white while the November coupon was green. We also suggest that the green November coupon be taped to the calendar in October or November as a further reminder. While we have made every effort to assist the taxpayer, we do not always succeed. With human nature being what it is, there will remain a few taxpayers who forget the November due date and unfortunately, interest must be charged.
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