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Taunton assessors say 52,900 motor-vehicle excise bills totaling about $7.1M will be mailed; board reports 142 abatement filings
Summary
At its Feb. 20 meeting the Taunton Board of Assessors reviewed upcoming motor-vehicle excise mailings, abatement activity, income-and-expense forms, GIS mapping repairs and three-year assessment directives from the Bureau of Local Assessment.
The Taunton Board of Assessors reported that 52,900 motor-vehicle excise bills — totaling about $7,100,000 — will be mailed next week and will be due March 28, board member Lisa Labelle said at the Board's Feb. 20 meeting.
The mailing schedule is the most immediate action for taxpayers: "We have ... 52,900 bills going out on this commitment for calendar year 2025 over $7,100,000 billed," Assessor Lisa Labelle said. The board asked taxpayers to watch for the bill and pay by the March 28 due date.
Why it matters: the mailings affect most vehicle owners in Taunton and set the immediate cash flow for local tax collections. Labelle noted the scale of registrations in the city when discussing the excise mailing.
Abatements and appeals: The board reported it received 142 abatement applications for this year and has granted 19 so far, Richard Conte, chairman of the Taunton Board of Assessors, said. Conte described the board's review process: assessors visit residential properties and contact commercial filers as part of the review. "The burden of proof is on the applicant to prove that the board has committed an error," Conte said.
Board staff said some abatement work will continue through hearings before the Appellate Tax Board. The board reported it currently has 16 multiyear, multi-location cases pending before the Appellate Tax Board.
Income-and-expense (INE) forms: The board said it will mail income-and-expense forms beginning the first week of March. Property owners will have 60 days to return them; if not returned, the board warned of fines and a possible lien on the fiscal 2026 real estate bill. "Two hundred and fifty dollars for commercial and $50 for residential," Labelle said when asked about the fines.
GIS and imagery: The assessors reported a temporary disruption to the online mapping service that displays aerial imagery. Conte said a code change disconnected the mapping system from the aerial photography provider and that staff expect to restore the 10-year imagery on the city's website within about a week.
Bureau of Local Assessment directives: Conte summarized three directives from the Bureau of Local Assessment that the board will implement over coming months: revisiting land schedules (values for land, including excess land), reviewing multifamily valuations to check for regressivity (ensuring uniformity of valuation across value ranges), and a three-year neighborhood review to reduce spot neighborhood aberrations. "We wanna make sure that we're doing full and fair cash valuation for everybody," Conte said.
Meeting close: With no further business, the Board moved to adjourn. The motion to adjourn was seconded and the chair declared the meeting adjourned at 10:07.
What was not decided: The board reported ongoing appellate cases and that many abatement matters remain in process; no new policy votes or ordinance changes were taken at this session.
