‘Pink slips’ and tax bills coming soon

John Howell
Posted 6/25/15

By JOHN HOWELL

The City of Warwick will put the “pink slips” in the mail this week, or at latest Monday.

Pink slips? Yes, more than 38,000 of them.

The pink slips are not layoff notices, …

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‘Pink slips’ and tax bills coming soon

Posted

By JOHN HOWELL

The City of Warwick will put the “pink slips” in the mail this week, or at latest Monday.

Pink slips? Yes, more than 38,000 of them.

The pink slips are not layoff notices, but rather some good advice to those property owners who have their bank or mortgage company pay their taxes through escrow holding accounts.

Christopher Celeste, city tax assessor, estimates as much as 50 percent of the city’s homeowners never see their tax bills because they went directly to the bank or mortgage company. That’s changing with tax bills going in the mail this week or early next week. The first quarterly payment is due July 15.

The pink slips suggest taxpayers whose tax payments are coming out of an escrow account to forward the invoices to their bank or mortgage company. Celeste uses the word “suggest,” since he expects the banks will have the information anyway.

Mailing the bill to the property owner enables them to learn if they are eligible for exemptions as well as to check the information on which the bill is based. Celeste pointed out taxpayers may question the assessment of their property or learn that they have become eligible for a senior citizen or veterans exemption.

Celeste said the city would send out 38,626 residential and commercial tax bills, 3,569 personal property bills and 49,945 motor vehicle bills. The number of motor vehicle bills, however, is less than half the total number of vehicles registered in the city since many bills list two or more vehicles.

All of these bills, reflecting an increase in residential and commercial taxes, will generate $229,189,680.19.

“It’s down to the penny,” Celeste said of the certified tax roll. The collection rate is projected to be 98 percent of the total.

As was instituted a couple of years ago, taxpayers can mail their payments to a Boston address, which is a processing center operated by Fidelity; pay by credit card online or in person in which case they will be charged a fee; drop off their payment at the City Hall Annex or pay at the counter at the annex.

“There are those people who come in and want a receipt,” Celeste acknowledged. Usually as the deadline approaches there are lines outside the annex.

Celeste said the city is ready.

The residential tax rate, which is up 69 cents, is $20.75 per $1,000 of property valuation. Commercial/industrial and tangible personal property tax rates are $31.13 and $41.50, respectively. The motor vehicle rate of $34.60 is unchanged with the exemption unchanged at $2,000.

Tax bills of $100 or less are due with the first quarterly payment.

A rate of 2.5 percent or a minimum of $3.95 is charged for credit card payments. Celeste explained that while merchants “eat” credit card processing costs, the city can’t do that on tax payments.

Comments

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  • allent

    have a feeling in 5 years we'll be at $30 per $1,000 of property valuation and their will be more potholes than ever.

    Thursday, June 25, 2015 Report this

  • PaulHuff

    Then run for office hepdog, and make a change. Whining. On the internet doesn't fix anything.

    Saturday, June 27, 2015 Report this

  • perky4175

    why should those of us have to pay a percentage of are taxes for schools if we have no kids

    families that yous the school system should be paying more

    Friday, July 3, 2015 Report this