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Resident raises unpaid abatement after Appellate Tax Board ruling; town staff says payment will follow AP warrant
Summary
At a Town of Hubbardston meeting, property owner Ed said an Appellate Tax Board abatement has not been paid for months and said he may file in small claims; staff apologized and said the abatement will go on the next AP warrant and checks should be mailed within about two weeks.
Ed, a property owner at 56 Barry Road, told the Town of Hubbardston select board that the Appellate Tax Board had granted him an abatement but the town had not issued the payment. “It's been 4 months and I haven't been paid all of the money that you've had for a year and a half now,” he said, and asked whether he should file in small-claims or district court to secure the funds.
Town staff acknowledged the delay and said the abatement paperwork had been filed. A staff member told the board that the item will be included on the next accounts payable warrant being sent to the accountant on Monday the 15th and estimated that a check would likely be mailed within about two weeks. “Our next warrant goes to the accountant on Monday the 15th. She'll process it at some point next week, and then it will get mailed out,” the staff member said; another board speaker apologized for the oversight.
Ed asked for a detailed analysis of the payment, including the timing and interest calculations for two abatements affecting his property — he referenced one abatement around $15,000 and a second award from the Appellate Tax Board he described as roughly in the mid‑tens of thousands (he stated an amount near $74,000; the transcript wording was imprecise). He said he preferred to wait for the town to process payment but reserved the right to pursue court remedies if the check did not arrive.
Board members and staff described the delay as a processing oversight tied to fiscal-year/prior-year handling and turnover in treasury staff. The board did not take any formal vote related to the abatement during the meeting; staff committed to prepare the requested analysis and to process the payment through the stated AP cycle.
The next procedural development is the town’s AP processing on Monday the 15th; Ed asked the board to include the town accountant or the responsible staff on any follow-up correspondence so he can track when the check is cut and mailed.
