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The Tax Collector is responsible for the printing, mailing and collection of all tax bills issued by the Town of Edgartown. These include: Motor Vehicle Excise Tax, Boat Excise Tax, Real Estate Tax and Personal Property Tax. The Tax Collector's office issues and maintains a record of Municipal Lien Certificates to be filed at the Registry of Deeds in Edgartown.

Real Estate and Personal Property tax bills are issued semi-annually but are collected quarterly. This means four times a year, not four equal payments. The bills are mailed on June 30th and Dec. 31st. Each mailing contains two bills with due dates of Aug. 1st, Nov. 1st, Feb. 1st, and May 1st. No reminder is sent between quarters. By state law, interest is charged on any and all late payments - even bills that have been lost in the mail or never received due to transfer of ownership. Copies of bills are available in the office if anyone should misplace their tax bill. At various times Demands will be sent out for late taxes. This adds a $5.00 late fee in addition to any accumulated interest.

Tax Information

The Town of Edgartown's year runs on a fiscal year from July 1 to June 30 each year. When you pay your real estate and personal property taxes August 1 and November 1, you are paying for the first half of the year (July 1 to Dec 31) and when you pay your taxes February 1 and May 1 you are paying for the second half of the year (Jan 1 to June 30).

Mailing Address for Payments: All tax payments should be payable to: TOWN OF EDGARTOWN. The fastest and easiest way to make payments simply place payments in the return envelope enclosed with your bill, addressed to:

TOWN OF EDGARTOWN
P.O. BOX 1012
EDGARTOWN, MA 02539

Real Estate Tax

Bills are mailed to the owner of record as of January 1^st. For FY 2007 (July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007), the tax bill would be sent to owner of record January 1, 2006. As a courtesy, bills may also be sent to the "new" owners if the information is available. If you are a new owner and do not receive your tax bill, contact the tax office and request a copy, failure to receive a bill does not negate the taxes, or penalties for late payments

Personal Property Tax

Everyone, except full-time residents, is assessed a personal property tax. This tax is payable for the entire year by the person who was the owner of record as of the previous January 1. For FY 2007 (July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007), the tax would be assessed to the person who owned the property as of January 1, 2006. However, a property owner who rents an unfurnished unit would not have to pay the assessment and should file for abatement.

Motor Vehicle Excise Tax

Excise bills are prepared by the Registry of Motor Vehicles according to the information on the motor vehicle registration. Under MGL Chapter 60A, all Massachusetts residents who own and register a motor vehicle must annually pay a motor vehicle excise tax for the privilege of road use, whether actual or future. The excise is levied by the town where the vehicle is principally garaged and the revenues become part of the local community treasury.

Vessel/Boat Excise

Under MGL Chapter 60B requires communities to annually assess, except as within provided, every vessel for the privilege of using the water ways of the Commonwealth at the rate of $10.00 per thousand of valuation. It further requires that boat owners as of July 1 shall annually report "under oath" to the assessors where their boat is "habitually moored or docked" for the summer season, or if it is not moored or docked, where it is "principally situated" during the calendar year, and set forth the boat's state of registration or federal documentation numbers and description. "Principally situated" also includes the city or town on Massachusetts where unregistered or undocumented are principally located during the calendar year.