Welcome to the Town of Holland
We are pleased that you have made the decision to purchase property in Holland and hope that you enjoy many years of happiness in your new home. This letter is written as a courtesy to make you aware of the Town’s taxation process as it may not have been discussed with you at the closing.
WHO CREATES THE TAX BILL
It is the responsibliity of the Assessor's office to establish the taxable valuation of each individual piece of property in the Town of Holland. The Assessor's, however, do not creat value. Buyers and sellers create value via their transaction in the marketplace. The Assessors have the legal responsibility to study those transactions and assess the property accordingly.
TOWN MEETING AND THE BUDGET
At Town meeting each year a budget is voted on by those in attendance taking into account the limits of propsition 2 1/2 and how much money will be needed to meet all the appropriations and other expenses. The Assessors have no control over the Town's budget.
The difference between the amount approved and the money received from other revenue sources (i.e... state aid, licensing fees, permits, automobile excise) must be raised by property taxation. The assessed values are developed independently from the budget and are used only in the last stepof the budgeting process to distribute the tax levy.
THE TAX RATE
The tax rate is calculated by taking the total tax to be levied and dividing by the valuation of taxable property.
WHEN WE BILL
The Town of Holland currently bills on a semi-annual basis. Real estate and personal property tax bills for the fiscal Year cover the period from July 1 of the previous year to June 30 of the current fiscal year. Payments are due by 4 p.m. in the Tax Collector's office on the due dates. If the tax rate is set timely, the first half bill will be due on November 1st, and the second half bill will be due on May 1st, or, the following regular business day if the 1st falls on a weekend or holiday. Postmarks are not considered payment in a timely fashion per Massachusetts General Law. It is the responsibility of the taxpayer to ensure that tax payments arrive in the Collector's office on or before the due dates. The last semi-annual bill will be issued on April 1, 2010 and due on May 01, 2010. The first quarterly tax
bill will be issued immediatly thereafter on July 1, 2010. (see below)
QUARTERLY TAX BILLS ARE COMING!
The Town of Holland will issue it's first quarterly tax bill on July 1, 2010. The first two quarters of the fiscal year tax bills are estimated tax bills and payments are based on the last fiscal years taxes. (Example the toal tax on your property is $2,000 for the fiscal year 2009 bill, therefore the first two tax bills would be $2,000/4 or $500 for each of the first two quarters of the fiscal year 2010). The last two quarters, commonly called the actual tax bills are calculated by subtracting the first two estimated tax payments from your total tax bill and dividing that amount in half. (Example your total tax bill is $2,200 for FY10 therefore your next two tax bills will be $2,200-($500 x 2) = $1,200 divided by two or $600 for each of the last two quarters.
MAKE SURE YOU GET YOUR BILL
Massachusetts general law requires that the property tax bill must be sent to the owner of record as of January 1st of the previous year. This means if your deed was recorded after January 1, 2006, the fiscal year 2007 tax bill would be in the former owner’s name since they were the owner of record as of January 1, 2006. In many cases this bill will be sent to or forwarded to the former owner if an in-care-of has not been added to the tax bill. If an in-care-of has been added to the tax bill, chances are that the Assessor’s would use your old mailing address to add the in-care-of to the tax bill as they get their billing information from the actual deed. Please make sure the Assessor’s office has your correct mailing information. To check your records click here to check your assessment data.
MAKE SURE YOUR NAME IS ADDED TO THE BILL AND YOUR ADDRESS IS CORRECT
TOWN CLERK
TOWN HALL HOURS
The Town Hall building is open Monday through Thursday 9:00AM to 12:00PM and 1:00PM to 4:00PM. Check with each of the departments and boards for further information on their hours of operation or meeting times as they may vary.
HOLLAND CABLE CHANNEL
You can turn to channel 15 on your television (Cox cable network) to get more information on activities and announcements regarding events happening in the Town of Holland.
| 
