Lakeville assessors deem decades-old personal-property accounts uncollectible and order abatement

The Town of Lakeville Board of Assessors voted unanimously Jan. 8 to deem two decades-old personal-property accounts uncollectible and to process abatements to remove them from the collector’s records.

Unidentified Speaker 1 moved to process an abatement for accounts with commitment dates listed as 02/2006 and 07/07/2007; the motion was seconded and carried on an aye vote. The board described the accounts as assessed but not collected for roughly 20 years and said accrued interest has substantially increased the amounts owed.

Discussion on the record named the business identifier used in packet documents as 'Back 9 Club LLC' and noted the accounts trace to predecessor owners. Board members agreed collection options for personal-property delinquencies are limited; one member explained that small-claims civil action is typically the available remedy rather than a municipal lien against real estate. Unidentified Speaker 1 stated, "It's 8%," when asked about the interest rate applied to the outstanding accounts.

Members noted inconsistencies in spoken references to dollar figures during the discussion (different speakers cited small and larger totals during the meeting); the board did not reconcile every figure on the record before voting. After the vote, Unidentified Speaker 1 asked staff (Linda) to check with the collector’s office for any other longstanding uncollected personal-property accounts (spanning 10–40 years) so the board can review additional abatement recommendations.

The board distinguished personal-property delinquencies from real-estate tax procedures, noting that real-estate delinquencies follow a different process (tax title) and are handled separately. The abatement action moves the listed personal-property commitments off the collector’s books but does not itself create new collection remedies.