Select board approves $650 for demand letters and authorizes town to buy unsold tax-sale properties

The select board voted May 20 to authorize the town to pay $50 per delinquent parcel to the town’s tax attorney to start demand letters and to allow the town to purchase any unsold parcels at the forthcoming tax sale.

Tiffany Mays (speaker 11), who presented the tax-sale list, said the packet before the board lists 13 parcels with combined delinquencies of roughly $92,000. She recommended leaving properties on the tax-sale list while attorneys send demand letters and perform title research so the town does not have to repeat the process if a closing fails.

The board voted unanimously to spend $650 (13 parcels × $50) to fund attorney demand letters, and then approved a separate motion authorizing the town to purchase any properties that receive no bids at the sale.

Mays explained the attorney typically sends demand letters, researches titles and conducts the public tax-sale auction; purchasers then pay liabilities (taxes, utilities) and owners have a 12‑month redemption period to pay the full balance to reclaim title. If the town buys a parcel and later takes possession, Mays said immediate liability tables in the packet show the town would likely pay no more than $25,000 plus attorney fees in the rare circumstance where a purchase is required to protect municipal interests.

Board members said they expect tax sales to be well attended and do not anticipate the town purchasing many properties, but approved the authority to do so to avoid leaving parcels unmanaged.

The motions were recorded during the public meeting; the board did not amend the list or vote to remove individual parcels. Further steps will be driven by attorney demand-letter responses and outcomes at the tax sale.