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- How to Pay a Bill in the Town of Auburn
How to Pay a Bill in the Town of Auburn
The Collector’s Office collects all types of tax bills as well as utility bills (sewer, trash). All these bills may be paid in any of the listed ways.
- Bank Online Payment Systems
- By Mail
- Cash
- Checking Account
- Checks
- Credit Cards
- In Person
- Outside Mailbox
- Partial Payments
- Online
Bank Online Payment Systems
Some residents prefer to pay their municipal bills by using online systems offered by their bank. We do not recommend this type of payment because no bill is remitted with the payment, and because the online payment vendors have informed us that they discourage their customers from using their services to make payments to governmental units. We will accept these payments, however, provided that we can immediately determine for whom and for what type of bill the payment is being remitted. If we cannot make such determination, we will mail your check back to you and ask that you return it with the appropriate bill form.
In order to avoid having these types of checks returned to you, please make sure that:
- It is clear what type of bill is being paid (tax, excise, utility)
- You include the bill number and year if payment is being made on a tax or excise bill (tax and excise bill numbers change
- Every year, so you should verify the bill number each time you make a payment)
- You include the account number if payment is being made on a utility bill
- Your name and address are prominently displayed on either the check or the check stub
By Mail
Tax bills (including real estate, personal property, and motor vehicle excise) as well as Utility bills may be mailed to the office or to the lockbox using the enclosed envelope. Please include the remittance copy in order to ensure that your payment is properly credited.
Cash Payments
Please do not send cash by mail, either to the office or the lockbox. Please do not leave cash in the outside mail box. If you wish to pay in cash, the safest way to do so is to pay at the office during normal business hours.
Payment by Electronic Debit from Your Checking Account
You should have your bill and your checkbook in front of you for reference before you begin the process. You will be guided through a series of steps so that your payment is deducted directly from your checking account and sent electronically to the Town’s account. If you wish, you may request that an email be sent to your computer to confirm that the payment information has been received by the bank. There is no charge for this service.
- Real Estate and Personal Property bills may be paid online throughout most of the collection year until after the due date of the demands. At that point, payments will no longer be accepted online.
- Motor Vehicle Excise bills may be paid online up until the time that warrants are issued and they have been turned over to the Deputy Collector’s Office for collection. If you have received a warrant for a delinquent Motor Vehicle Excise bill, send payment to the Deputy’s address on the warrant.
- Utility Bills may be paid online at any time until due date.
Checks
The Town of Auburn accepts only checks that are made payable to “Town of Auburn.” We do not accept checks made payable to a third party, even with an endorsement. This is simply good business practice.
Most of the time, we can accept personal checks in payment of your bills. The following occasions are exceptions. In these cases, delinquents would have received letters advising them as to the acceptable methods of payment.
- If your property is in the process of a tax taking, we will accept payment only by cash or bank check or certified personal check. Please call 508-832-7705 if you are unsure.
- If you have been marked at the Registry of Motor Vehicles and cannot renew either your license or automobile registration because of an outstanding Motor Vehicle Excise bill, we can accept your payment only by money order, bank check or cash. The Registry of Motor Vehicles will notify you if you have a marked bill.
Check Dates
When you make a payment with any type of check, the check must be dated no later than the date on which you are tendering payment. We cannot accept checks which are post-dated, that is, are dated in the future. Please remember this when you make out your check. If you send us a post-dated check, it will be returned to you, and we will ask you to change the date and to initial your change.
Credit Card Payments
The Town of Auburn does not accept credit card payments at this time.
In Person
To pay your bill in person, you must visit the Collector’s Office in the Auburn Town Hall during regular office hours. If you want a receipt for your payment, bring the entire bill to the office and the staff will stamp your copy with the date of your payment. If you do not ask for a receipt at the time you make payment, we cannot provide one at a later time.
Outside Mailbox
There is a locked metal box located outside both the front and back doors of the Town Hall. While this box was installed to make bill-paying convenient when the building is not open, payments may be dropped in this box at any time.
Please be advised that this box is opened by staff once each business day when the office opens. Payments that are left in the box will be credited to your account as of the next business day. Please be aware of the due date of your bill and the time of day in order to ensure that your payment is credited on time to avoid late charges. If the building is open and your bill is due that day, it is better to make payment at the office.
Partial Payments
Partial payments may not be made online if you are paying a Motor Vehicle Excise bill. Partial payments may be made online if you are paying a Real Estate, Personal Property or Utility Bill.
Pay Bills Online
Real Estate, Personal Property, Motor Vehicle Excise, and Utility bills may be paid online using a town-sponsored site. You may pay online by having your payment electronically deducted from your checking account. The Town’s pay online system is run by UniBank and is a secure site. Payment information is not stored by either the Town of Auburn or UniBank.
Errors and/or Insufficient Funds
The confirmation that you will receive from UniBank verifies only that the bank has received your payment information, but does not confirm the electronic transmission of funds. Occasionally, we are notified that a transaction has been reversed because an invalid account or routing number was used. In this situation, we must also reverse the payment, leaving your bill unpaid.
If this happens, we will notify you by email and also by U.S. mail so that you can reissue the payment either online or by sending a check to the Collector’s Office. If an online payment must be reversed because of insufficient funds, the Town of Auburn will charge the statutory penalty of $25, just as we would for a check returned for this reason.
Insufficient Funds Checks
Any check which is returned to this office and, for whatever reason, is not honored by the payer’s bank, will be subject to the statutory penalty as outlined in Massachusetts General Laws, Chapter 60, Section 57A. The penalty is 1% of the face value of the check with a minimum charge of $25.
If your check is returned to us, we will charge back the payment to the appropriate account (taxes, excise, utility) along with the penalty. If the insufficient funds check was in payment of a tax bill, and if the payment due date has passed, interest and all other applicable fees will be charged to the account.