Editor’s Note: The following is an opinion piece submitted by the co-sponsors of the Tax Title Payment Agreements warrant article appearing on the May 18 Annual Town Meeting warrant. One of the authors, Nikhil Rao, also serves on the Finance Committee and is sponsoring the article as a private citizen. It represents the views of the authors, not The Maynard Voice. The Voice welcomes responses and opposing viewpoints. Please post in the comments.

At this year’s Annual Town Meeting, scheduled for May 18, 2026, there will be a Citizens’ Petition article bylaw entitled “Tax Title Payment Agreements.” One of your co-authors is proposing and sponsoring this article, and we would like to take this opportunity to explain why the voters of Maynard should pass it. Simply put, voters should pass this article because it will generate more tax revenue, save the town legal expenses and strengthen community stability and build public trust.

Background

The purpose of the bylaw is to grant the town treasurer and collector authority to set up tax title payment agreements with town residents, pursuant to G.L. c. 60, § 62A. This state law, Section 62A, gives municipalities authority to enter into such agreements and provides the legally permissible range of terms. Tax title status is what happens when a resident fails to pay their taxes (for more information, visit mass.gov/info-details/frequently-asked-questions-about-tax-lien-foreclosure-cases-in-the-land-court). Essentially, tax title is the intermediate stage between being late on your taxes and Maynard foreclosing on your home. Many other towns have passed a Section 62A bylaw, such as Abington, Ashburnham, Ashland, Athol, Ayer, Becket, Berlin, Chatham, Deerfield, Dighton, Duxbury, Easton, Freetown, Goshen, Hadley, Milford, Millville, Montague, Natick, Orange, Plympton, Rutland, Sandisfield, Spencer, South Hadley, Sterling, Tisbury, Westhampton and West Newbury.

Most residents pay their property and local taxes through an escrow account administered by a mortgage servicer; this draft bylaw would be applicable to a very small number of people. However, about 20% of mortgages on average do not have escrow accounts. Senior citizens are more likely to have paid-off mortgages, or to have reverse mortgages, which do not require an escrow account. Thus, the residents most at risk of losing their home to a tax foreclosure are senior citizens and the financially vulnerable.

This bylaw was originally drafted with two distinct kinds of tax title payment plans: one for people experiencing severe financial hardship (the “Financial Hardship Plan”) and one for everyone (the “Basic Plan”). However, it is highly likely that either a floor amendment or the Attorney General’s bylaw review will retain only the Basic Plan (more on this below). The Basic Plan allows four years for people to complete the payment plan, and it also provides eligible people with a 50% waiver of the tax title interest that has accrued during the term of the agreement. Both plans require, as a condition of eligibility and a showing of good faith, that a person is current on all other outstanding obligations to the town. This bylaw also pertains only to properties already in tax title that have had formal liens recorded at the Middlesex County Registry of Deeds — the town’s interests have already been protected by the recording of a tax lien. It is important to note that these repayment plans do not relieve the owner of any tax obligations but only waive some of the interest that has accrued at very high interest rates.

Benefits to Maynard

A Section 62A bylaw will provide several important benefits that would not be possible without one.

The bylaw will generate more tax revenue

Section 62A bylaws generate more tax revenue because they make it easier for people to pay back their taxes. They allow for a waiver of some of the accrued tax title interest in exchange for the town not filing a foreclosure lawsuit against the person in the Land Court.

The interest waivers only take effect if and when the person has successfully completed the terms of the payment agreement. The effect of this exchange is to encourage people to pay back what is owed by offering a small reduction in the total balance plus the chance to keep the property. The partial interest waiver, together with a payment plan scheduled over four years, can make repayment feasible when payment plans with a large down payment and a shorter term simply do not work.

Indeed, current bylaws already on the books in Maynard (Chapter 3, Section 5(c)) already provide for payment plans in the context of the revocation of local permits and licenses as a penalty for unpaid assessments and charges. This bylaw would extend this logic to the tax title context.

The bylaw will save the town the cost of suing people in the Land Court

The bylaw will decrease Maynard’s expenditures by saving the cost of suing people for foreclosure in the Land Court. There are significant upfront legal fees that must be paid to the outside law firm that handles these lawsuits for the town. According to archived expenditure reports (see townofmaynardma.gov/Archive.aspx), these expenditures come out of the operating budget and will only be recouped if the town sells the person’s property after obtaining a foreclosure judgment. Also, a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision means that the town cannot recover more from the sale of the property than what was owed, and legal disputes over this may persist.

A review of publicly accessible court records on MassCourts.org shows that the town filed 10 tax lien foreclosure lawsuits between July 1, 2022, and Feb. 28, 2026 — the most recent date for which town expenditure reports are also available. The town has spent a total of $11,996.40 on these lawsuits. All of these lawsuits involved residential property, meaning that people’s homes were at stake (although the bylaw, as required by state law, applies to all types of property parcels in town — more on this below).

The bylaw will enhance community stability and public trust

Passing this bylaw helps people of all income levels and economic situations remain in their homes and keep their property. It preserves neighborhood cohesion and property values and prevents the individual and community trauma of losing what is often a lifelong home. It demonstrates a commitment to compassionate governance and recognition of the financial difficulties of the most vulnerable members of the community, and ultimately affirms that Maynard is welcoming to people from all economic backgrounds.

Additional Notes: Floor Amendments

Based on Town Counsel’s recommendation, there are a couple of floor amendments to accompany this bylaw article. One is a minor change replacing “must be” with “are” to achieve better sentence structure.

Another floor amendment is also a small change. The bylaw as originally drafted was intended to apply to all types of property within the town (in order to comply with Section 62A’s requirement that a tax title payment agreement bylaw treat all types of property the same) and listed the four main types of property. However, because there are various subtypes and smaller categories, Town Counsel recommended that this part of the bylaw simply say “all land within the town.” To clarify, the bylaw applying to all types of property means it applies to commercial as well as residential property. This helps the town because keeping businesses in town provides a more lucrative tax base — commercial property is taxed at a higher rate than residential property — and fuels economic growth, although as discussed above, the 10 most recent lawsuits whose legal expenses were trackable were all about residential property.

The last floor amendment is more substantial. Based on Town Counsel’s recommendation, the Financial Hardship Plan may not comply with Section 62A’s requirement to treat all classes of property the same (although cities such as Springfield have similar financial hardship provisions in their own Section 62A ordinances), so the Financial Hardship Plan would have to be stricken. This could be accomplished either with a floor amendment or, alternatively, the Attorney General could sever that section during review of the passed bylaw. Either method achieves the same result.

Keeping only the Basic Plan still accomplishes the main objectives of the bylaw: the town can still meet struggling residents where they are financially and use the Basic Plan’s interest waiver to incentivize the collection of unpaid taxes and make payment plans more workable.

Conclusion

We hope that you will pass this bylaw and allow the win-win situation it provides — both saving the town money and helping ensure that financial troubles don’t force people to leave Maynard.