If your property has increased or decreased in assessed value since your last tax payment, you might receive a supplemental tax bill. These are separate tax bills you need to pay in addition to your regular annual bill. If you're interested in learning more about how supplemental tax bills work, here is a short guide to the basics:
Supplemental tax bills are usually the result of a supplemental assessment of your property's value. Supplemental assessments happen when you complete new construction or major rehabilitation to a home. Supplemental assessments also take place when a property changes ownership.
Supplemental tax bills are separate from your normal property tax bills. Therefore, they can arrive at any time of year regardless of your annual tax due date. It's important to take care of these payments as soon as possible to prevent issues.
Negative supplemental tax bills are the result of a new assessment being lower than the previous. If you receive a negative tax bill, you'll also receive a reimbursement check. The amount of the refund check will depend on the difference between assessments. Conveniently, most municipalities allow you to apply the refund amount to any other outstanding tax bill, potentially saving you thousands.
Are you planning any major construction or updates to your home? If so, you can likely expect a supplemental assessment for the changes. Keep this basic info in mind for a better understanding of your supplemental tax bill.
I'm John Mahan, Sales Associate with William Raveis Real Estate, Harwich Port Office.
Throughout his childhood, John Mahan spent summers on Cape Cod at his parents’ home in Dennis Port. His intro to the Cape was, as he puts it, when his parents “carried me down the stairs at Sea Street Beach when I was a week old.” With a lifelong connection to Cape Cod, it seemed only natural for John and his wife, Mary, to move to Harwich – where they still reside – with their two young children in 1996.
Prior to moving to Cape Cod, John lived in the Worcester-Auburn area where he worked for Mass Electric for 10 years and was a member of the International Brotherhood of Utility Workers. When John and his family moved to the Cape, he worked at NSTAR for six years.
John began his career in real estate in 2002 when he joined Team Waystack Realty in Harwich Port. He has been a consistent top producing realtor in the Harwich area for the past 20 years. John’s approachable demeanor, combined with an integral understanding of the Cape Cod residential real estate market, have allowed him to build trusting, long-term relationships with his clients – both sellers and buyers.
