Revision: Dec. 10, 2009, midnight
HB 1335 – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
10/03
HOUSE BILL 1335
AN ACT establishing a local option for lowering the interest rate on late and delinquent property tax payments and subsequent payments.
SPONSORS: Rep. Vaillancourt, Hills 15; Rep. Kepner, Rock 15; Rep. Henson, Rock 13; Rep. T. Russell, Rock 13
COMMITTEE: Local and Regulated Revenues
This bill allows municipalities to adopt a lower interest rate chargeable by towns and cities for late tax payments and a lower interest rate for redemptions and subsequent tax payments.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2092
10/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT establishing a local option for lowering the interest rate on late and delinquent property tax payments and subsequent payments.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Property Taxes; Interest on Late Payment. Amend RSA 76:13 to read as follows:
76:13 Interest. Interest at 12 percent per annum, or 6 percent if the local option is adopted pursuant to RSA 76:13-c, shall be charged upon all taxes except resident taxes, except as otherwise provided by statute, not paid on or before December 1 after their assessment, which shall be collected from that date with the taxes as incident thereto, except in the case where a tax bill sent to the taxpayer on or after November 2 and before April 1 of the following year interest shall not be charged until 30 days after the bills are mailed. Interest due in an amount up to $25 may be waived by the collector, with the approval and consent of the board of selectmen and the board of assessors, if in the collector’s judgment the administrative and collection costs involved do not warrant collection of the amount due. The tax collector shall state on the tax bill the date from which interest will be charged and such date shall be determined by the day the collector sends out the last tax bill on the list. The collector shall notify the board of tax and land appeals in writing of the date on which the last tax bill was sent.
2 New Section; Interest Rates; Local Option. Amend RSA 76 by inserting after section 13-b the following new section:
76:13-c Interest Rates; Local Option.
I. Any town or city may adopt all of the lower interest rates provided for in RSA 76:13, RSA 80:32, RSA 80:37, RSA 80:69, and RSA 80:75, III in the following manner:
(a) In a town, other than a town that has adopted a charter pursuant to RSA 49-D, the question shall be placed on the warrant of a special or annual town meeting, by the governing body or by petition pursuant to RSA 39:3.
(b) In a city or town that has adopted a charter pursuant to RSA 49-C or RSA 49-D, the legislative body may consider and act upon the question in accordance with its normal procedures for passage of resolutions, ordinances, and other legislation. In the alternative, the legislative body of such municipality may vote to place the question on the official ballot for any regular municipal election.
II. The vote shall specify the interest rates provided for in RSA 76:13, RSA 80:32, RSA 80:37, RSA 80:69, and RSA 80:75, III. If a majority of those voting on the question vote “yes,” the lower interest rates shall take effect within the town or city, on the date set by the governing body, or in the tax year beginning April 1 following its adoption, whichever shall occur first.
III. A municipality may rescind the local adoption of lower interest rates provided in paragraph I in the manner described in this section.
3 Collection of Taxes; Interest Rate. Amend RSA 80:32 to read as follows:
80:32 Redemption. Any person with a legal interest in land so sold may redeem the same by paying or tendering to the collector, or in his or her absence, at his or her usual place of abode, at any time before a deed thereof is given by the collector, the amount for which the land was sold, with interest at 18 percent per annum, or 9 percent if the local option is adopted pursuant to RSA 76:13-c, upon the whole amount for which the land was sold from the time of sale to the time of payment in full, except that in the case of partial payments in redemption made under RSA 80:33-a, the interest shall be computed on the unpaid balance, together with redemption costs and costs for notifying the mortgagees, if any. In case the tax collector who sold the property in question shall have died, become incapacitated, been removed from office or removed from the town or city, or shall have been discharged from his or her bond by the selectmen or assessors, then the person with the legal interest in redeeming the property may tender such sums to the tax collector then in office of said city or town. Upon advice from the selectmen or assessors that the amount tendered is the correct amount due, the tax collector shall accept said amount for the redemption of the property.
4 Collection of Taxes; Interest Rate. Amend RSA 80:37 to read as follows:
80:37 Payment of Subsequent Tax. For purposes of this section, “subsequent tax” shall mean any tax assessed upon the real estate subsequent to that for which it was sold by a municipality, a county, or the state. The purchaser of real estate at any tax sale may pay to the collector any subsequent tax and the collector shall, within 30 days after such payment, notify the register of deeds thereof, giving the date and the amount of such payment and the name of the person so paying together with the date of the tax sale, the name of the person taxed, and a description of the property sold as shown in the report of sale recorded in the registry of deeds. The collector of taxes shall receive $1 for such notice to the register of deeds of the payment of subsequent tax plus $1 to be paid to the register of deeds. The purchaser, within 30 days of payment of the subsequent tax, shall personally, or by certified mail, notify in writing any mortgagee who was notified of his or her purchase at the tax sale of this payment of the subsequent tax. The purchaser paying the subsequent tax shall receive the same fees prescribed for notifying the mortgagee of his or her purchase at the tax sale to be included in his or her costs to be paid by the person making redemption, except that when a town is a purchaser at a tax sale and the town pays a subsequent tax and the selectmen direct the collector of taxes as agent for the town to give notice of payment of a subsequent tax to any mortgagee who was notified of the purchase by the town at the tax sale, the collector shall be paid the sum of $5 for this service. Any amounts so paid on account of subsequent taxes, together with interest thereon at the rate of 18 percent per annum, or 9 percent if the local option is adopted pursuant to RSA 76:13-c, from the date of payment shall, in addition to the purchase price at the time of sale with accrued interest and costs, be paid by the person making redemption.
5 Collection of Taxes; Interest Rate. Amend RSA 80:69 to read as follows:
80:69 Redemption. Any person with a legal interest in land subject to a real estate tax lien may redeem the same by paying or tendering to the collector, at any time before a deed thereof is given by the collector, the amount of the real estate lien, with interest at 18 percent per annum, or 9 percent if the local option is adopted pursuant to RSA 76:13-c, upon the whole amount of the recorded lien from the date of execution to the time of payment in full, except that in the case of partial payments in redemption made under RSA 80:71, the interest shall be computed on the unpaid balance, together with redemption costs and costs for identifying and notifying the mortgagees, if any. In case the tax collector who executed the tax lien against the property in question shall have died, become incapacitated, been removed from office or removed from the town or city, or shall have been discharged from his or her bond by the selectmen or assessors, then the person with the legal interest in redeeming the property may tender such sums to the tax collector then in office of said city or town. Upon advice from the selectmen or assessors that the amount tendered is the correct amount due, the tax collector shall accept said amount for the redemption of the property.
6 Collection of Taxes; Interest Rate. Amend RSA 80:75, III to read as follows:
III. When a municipality is the lienholder and the municipality pays a subsequent tax and the selectmen direct the collector of taxes, as agent of the municipality, to give such notice of said payment to any owner and to any mortgagee as provided above, the collector of taxes shall receive the same fees provided for the lienholder for his or her service. The amount of subsequent taxes paid, together with interest on such taxes at the rate of 18 percent per annum, or 9 percent if the local option is adopted pursuant to RSA 76:13-c, from the date of payment shall, in addition to the tax lien amount at the time of execution with interest and costs, be paid by the person making redemption.
7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect April 1, 2010.