Chillicothe City PWS

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1. What is the Fiscal 2019 tax fee? The Fiscal 2019 Residential Tax Rate is $7.06 per thousand dollars of valuation and the Fiscal 2019 Commercial/Industrial/Personal Property Tax Rate is $6.75 per thousand dollars of valuation. Go to: Tax Rate Page
2. How do I change the mailing address on my tax bill(s)? Your mailing address (legal) must be the same address as used for filing your Federal & State Income Tax Forms. To change the mailing address for your real estate, personal property, or boat, complete the address change form available on this web page and mail or fax it to the Assessors' Office. You may also download Change of Address Form by clicking on => Assessors => Frequently Used Forms => Change of Address. You may also request a change of address by email. Make sure you indicate the following: 1) Property Address in Provincetown 2. Name 3. Old Mailing Address 4. New Mailing Address To change your mailing address for your motor vehicle excise, you must contact the Registry of Motor Vehicles at 1-800-858-3926. Go to: Frequently Used Forms Page
3. Why is the previous owner's name still on my tax bill? This is often confusing to new owners. Chapter 59, Section 11, of the Massachusetts General Laws states: "Taxes on real property shall be assessed... To the person who is the owner on January first...." The tax bill will carry the January 1 owner's name throughout the entire next fiscal year. Once the fiscal year has run its cycle, the former owner's name will be replaced by the new owner's name.
4. Why doesn't my tax bill show a value for my property? Preliminary tax bills, mailed on October 1, have neither a value nor a tax rate. Both the value and the tax rate will appear on the actual tax bill, which will be mailed April 1. Voters at the April 2005 Special Town Meeting approved the provisions of MGL Chapter 59,§57C, which allows the Town to send out property tax bills on a semi-annual basis. Under the semi-annual system, property taxpayers will be sent a preliminary tax bill every year on October 1 and the actual tax bill will be sent in April. The preliminary tax will be payable due in November. The preliminary tax amount for the new fiscal year will normally be one-half of the adjusted net tax owed on the property for the prior fiscal year. Also, all betterments are billed in full for the year on the October bill.
5. How frequently do assessments change? To ensure compliance with the requirement that municipalities assess property at "full and fair cash value," the Massachusetts Department of Revenue requires each city and town to undergo a complete recertification every three years. Fiscal 2009 was a re-certification year for Provincetown as were Fiscal 2006, 2003 and 2000. In the past, during the two interim years between triennial recertifications, the Board of Assessors had the option of doing nothing or making interim-year adjustments to maintain assessments at fair market value. Because the real estate market has been relatively strong in recent years, the Assessors have opted to make interim-year adjustments since Fiscal 1998. Beginning with Fiscal Year 2004, the State Department of Revenue has mandated that communities MUST make interim-year adjustments.
6. How do the Assessors determine value? By law property valuation in Massachusetts is required to be based on "full and fair cash value," which is the amount a willing and knowledgeable buyer would pay a willing and knowledgeable seller on the open market. The Assessors must collect, record, and analyze a great deal of information about property and market characteristics in order to estimate values.