Question: “Last year, I applied for, and then received, an exemption on my property taxes. But, it wasn’t reflected in the property tax bills I received in late December. Why not?
Answer: Exemptions primarily are granted to seniors and veterans who meet certain qualifications. In Fiscal 2024, which ended on June 30th, the town granted $186,278 in exemptions to just over 100 Holliston residents.
State law allows people to apply for the exemptions between July 1st of one calendar year (2024) through April 1st of the next calendar year (2025).
That legal application period conflicts with the preparation of the “actual” property tax bills that get mailed out at the end of the calendar year. If you want your exemption to show up in those two property tax bills, you really need to submit your application before Thanksgiving.
Why? Because that deadline will give the Assessing staff enough time to review your application, and then give the Board of Assessors enough time to review and approve your application. After that, the Assessing staff needs enough time to enter your specific amount into the town’s MUNIS financial software so that the exemption amount can be shown on those third and fourth tax bills.
If the Assessing staff cannot enter your exemption in time to be reflected on those tax bills, it will be up to the person receiving an exemption to follow up with the Treasurer/Collector’s office to find out by what amount to reduce your third or fourth quarter bill. Or, you can look at the “certificate” sent by the Assessing staff to you in the mail which indicates the amount of your exemption.
Just a reminder: The fiscal (financial) year runs from July 1st through June 30th. The third quarter (July-August-September) and the fourth quarter (October-November-December) of the calendar year are the first and second quarters of the fiscal year.
The “estimated” property tax bills you receive for these two quarters are calculated by taking half of what you paid in the previous fiscal year and dividing that amount into two equal payments.
The first quarter (January-February-March) and second quarter (April-May-June) of the calendar year are the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year. The “actual” property tax bills you receive for these two quarters reflect any increase in the assessed value of your property and the new fiscal year’s tax rate.
Typically, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue certifies the town’s new assessed values and the new tax rate in the late October to late November timeframe, so that the “actual” bills can be mailed out in late December.
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