“I bought my house in April. So, why was the previous owner’s name on the property tax bills I received in late June?” “I sold my home in March, and the latest property tax bill got forwarded to me at my new address. Why wasn’t it sent to the new owners?
These two questions are among the most frequently asked questions at Assessors’ offices across the entire state. Because of how often they’re asked, Michelle Keohan, the Assistant Assessor in Reading and North Andover, recently wrote an answer to these questions in the summer issue of the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers’ quarterly newsletter. And, in Holliston, we now send an explanation to the people buying homes here.
I’ve combined both our explanations to give you an easy-to-understand answer.
Under Massachusetts laws, property taxes are assessed on a fiscal (financial) year basis, with the fiscal year running from July 1st through June 30th. But, the ownership and valuation for tax purposes are based on the ownership and status of the property as of the January 1st preceding the start of the fiscal year.
This means that January 1, 2025 is the “assessment date” for Fiscal Year 2026, which began on July 1st. Whoever owned the property on January 1st will be the “assessed owner” for the entire fiscal year. If the property is sold after January 1, 2025, the seller’s name will remain on the quarterly tax bills until Fiscal Year 2026 ends on June 30, 2026 – even though they no longer own the property.
The new owner’s name will not appear alone on the property tax bill until Fiscal Year 2027, which starts July 1, 2026.
In Holliston, property tax bills are addressed to the old owner, with a “care of” (c/o) listing the name of the new owner. The ownership information we have comes directly from property deeds filed at the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds.
A good real estate attorney should be informing both the seller and the buyer about these state laws before or at the sales “closing.”
Similarly, if you add or subtract land from your parcel – known to assessors as “combines” and “splits” – after January 1st, your tax bill will not reflect that you have a larger or smaller amount of land until after the following January 1st.
Here’s an example: You own 5.3 acres of land next to land owned by the Massachusetts Audubon Society. You decide to donate three acres of your land to Mass Audubon. This month, you or they prepare a new land plan showing the new lot lines, and the Planning Board signs off on the plan. You or Mass Audubon then file that plan and a deed with the Middlesex South Registry of Deeds.
The change will not be reflected on your third and fourth quarter tax bills – mailed out in late December – because you still owned that property as of January 1, 2025. When the next fiscal year begins on July 1, 2026, it will reflect the status of both properties as of January 1, 2026 – meaning you will no longer be paying taxes on that three acres. Neither will Mass Audubon, because it is a tax-exempt organization.
These questions exemplify why assessors are always “living” in multiple years at once: both fiscal years and calendar years.
