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Boxborough raises demand fee to $25 and municipal lien certificate fee to $50
Summary
To cover rising postage and administrative costs, the Select Board voted to raise the statutory demand fee for unpaid tax bills to $25 per notice and to increase the municipal lien certificate fee to $50; the changes were approved unanimously and made effective immediately.
The Boxborough Select Board voted unanimously May 11 to raise the town’s demand fee for unpaid tax bills to $25 per demand notice and the municipal lien certificate (MLC) fee to $50.
Town Treasurer Emily explained the change is intended to offset higher postage and administrative costs. “When you figure if you’re doing that at $10 versus $25… it’s that much more money coming into the town,” she said, and noted the office issued 781 demand notices in the most recent motor‑vehicle round.
Board members raised concerns about cumulative costs for sellers — citing a newly enacted water testing fee of $705 in a neighboring jurisdiction — and discussed whether increases could be deferred. The chair said the demand fee and the MLC item were included in the motion; the board amended the motion to make the increases effective immediately and approved the measure by unanimous voice vote.
Officials noted that, by law, the required notice for nonpayment is the demand itself and that the MLC is commonly charged by closing attorneys and title companies; staff said the town handles roughly a handful of MLC requests weekly, and historically has issued about 100 per year from the treasurer’s office.
