1/20/2011 SEWER COMMISSION Minutes

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-10- 2. After Commitment After the assessments have been committed to the collector, the property owner is limited to the abatement and appeal procedure, Gallo v. Division of Water and Pollution Control, 374 Mass. 278, 288-289 (1978); Gudanowski v. Northbridge, 17 Mass. App. Ct. 414, 421 (1984), and, where the assessment is wholly void, to an action to recover an unlawful tax under G.L. Ch. 60, §98, Wheatland v. Cily of Boston,202 Mass. 258 (1909); California Village Corporation at 129. VI. ADIVHNISTRATIVE PROCEDURES A. Property Divided After Assessment As with real estate taxes, if a parcel is divided by sale, mortgage, partition or otherwise after the assessment has been made and the division has been recorded at the Registry of Deeds, the Assessing Board may, and if requested by the owner or mortgagee of any of the divided parcels, must apportion the amount of the assessment that remains unpaid, including interest and costs, among the divided parcels. The division cannot occur after the property has been advertised for sale or taking for non-payment of the assessment. The division is to be made so that the amount assessed upon each divided parcel is proportionate to the benefit received by the divided parcel from the improvement. After the division, only that portion of the assessment, interest and costs assessed on the divided parcel constitutes a lien on it. At least seven days before making the division, the Assessing Board is required to send a notice by registered mail to all owners of the parcel that was divided of its intention to make the division. A property owner may contest the division in the same manner as if the Assessing Board had denied an abatement application. G.L. Ch. 80 §15. B. Reassessment If an assessment is invalid and it has not been paid in full, it may be reassessed by the Assessing Board in the amount the original assessment should have been made. The reassessment must be made within two years of the date of the assessment if there has been an alienation within that time. If not, the reassessment must be made at any time before the property is alienated. If the reassessed amount has not yet been paid in full, it is a lien on the parcel and is collected in the same manner as the original assessment. G.L. Ch. 80 §16.