Tax and Sewer Billing

Real estate and personal property taxes are typically committed and billed in mid-July. They are due on October 15. Blue Hill’s fiscal year runs from January 1 to December 31, so the bill covers the calendar year of its issue. Per state statute, tax bills are issued based on the property’s ownership and condition on April 1.

Sewer bills are issued quarterly on the first days of January, April, July, and October. They are due on the 30th of that month.

Your tax bill is calculated by multiplying your taxable value (which you can check on your property card) by the current year’s mil rate. The mil rate is set by the Board of Assessors (Select Board), typically in July, based on the budget that is passed at the Annual Town Meeting in April. If you believe your taxable value is inaccurate, please contact the clerks’ office (preferably by phone), and we will help you set up a meeting with an assessors’ agent.

Standard residential structures are billed $137.70 per quarter. Commercial structures are independently reviewed and billed based on their number of fixtures. If you believe that you are being billed incorrectly, please contact the clerks’ office (preferably by email), and we will help you set up a meeting with the company that oversees our wastewater treatment plant.

In office: During business hours, you may pay by cash, check, money order, or card, though the latter incurs a 2.5% portal charge. To expedite your transaction, please bring your bill stub or know your account number. We will provide you with a receipt showing your remaining balance, if any.

By drop box: There is a black metal drop box mounted to the Town Hall near the front door. You may drop an envelope containing cash, check, or money order and your bill stub in that box at any time. If you lost your bill stub, please write your account number (or name and property address) on the envelope or memo line. If you would like your receipt, please also enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your payment. We check the drop box every morning that the clerks’ office is open, so most payments are processed the next business day.

By mail: You may mail a check or money order and your bill stub to 18 Union Street, Blue Hill, ME, 04614. We strongly advise against mailing cash. If you lost your bill stub, please write your account number (or name and property address) on the memo line. If you would like your receipt, please also enclose a self-addressed, stamped envelope with your payment.

Online: You may use this online portal to submit card payments online. Please note that this option will incur a 2.5% portal charge. The portal will tell you that we can only accept payments for real estate tax accounts with no past-due balances, but that is not the case; you may use the portal to submit payments for any real estate tax, personal property tax, or sewer account. To make sure that we match your payment to the correct account, please include the two-letter account type prefix with your account number (i.e. RE-123 for real estate, PP-123 for personal property, or UT-123 for sewer). You will receive a digital receipt by email when we process the transaction, usually the next business day.

By phone: You may call the clerks’ office to pay with a card. Please note that this option will incur a 2.5% portal charge. Knowing your account number will expedite the transaction. We do not typically provide a receipt for this transaction type, but you may request to have your account detail, which will contain a record of payment, emailed to you.

Interest accrues daily, starting the day after the bill is due. The interest rate may vary but is typically between 7% and 8% annually. Before making a late payment, we suggest contacting the clerks’ office to find out exactly how much is currently due. We can also check the amount due as of a certain date in the future, which might be useful if you plan on mailing in payment. You may also simply round your payment up – any excess will automatically be applied as a credit toward the next bill.

Please note that sewer bills display past-due balances as of the day of printing, which will likely be slightly less than the day you receive it. Tax bills do not display past-due balances at all; please contact the clerks’ office to find out about any delinquent taxes.

Any taxes that are not paid by December 31 will be printed in the Annual Report. Tax liens are typically placed on delinquent properties sometime between May and July of the year after they were due; all property owners with past-due balances will be sent a notice by certified mail at least 30 days before liens are filed, the cost of which will be added to their account. If the account is not paid within those 30 days and a lien is filed, the filing costs will also be added to the tax account. Please note that a lien does not mean that a foreclosure is imminent; it simply means that the property cannot change hands without the taxes being paid.

All payments are applied to the oldest outstanding balance first, beginning with interest, then lien-related costs, then principal. Once the principal of a past tax year is fully paid, the lien will be discharged.

When a property changes hands, the transfer is recorded at the Hancock County Registry of Deeds, who then forwards the information to our assessors’ agents, who update our tax system. That process can take up to three months. Any bills that go to the wrong address during that window are the recipient’s responsibility to forward. Should the new owners not receive the forwarded bill, they are welcome to call the clerks’ office for the current balance.

If your mailing address has changed, but the ownership of the property has not, please fill out this change of address form and return it to the clerks’ office.

Blue Hill does not have a program to pay in installments. However, we are happy to accept partial payments at any time. Past the deadline, interest will accrue on the outstanding balance, but each partial payment will reduce that balance, thereby reducing the rate of interest accrual. Once your payments have brought your account current, you may choose to continue the payments, which will get you a credit on the next bill to be issued.

Many banks offer automatic recurring payment services, which we are happy to accept. Please make sure to include your account number with its two-letter prefix (i.e. RE-123 for real estate, PP-123 for personal property, or UT-123 for sewer) somewhere on that check, whether in the “post to account” field or the “memo” field.

If you cannot afford to pay your taxes at all, you may qualify for a Poverty or Hardship Abatement. Please fill out this form and turn it into the Select Board, who will discuss it in an executive session after the public part of their meeting.

All properties within 200 feet of the sewer line are billed on a “readiness to serve” basis. For more information, see sections 2.04 and 12.01 of the Sewer Use Ordinance.