Harwich To Focus On Delinquent Tax Collections

HARWICH – The town currently has 254 properties that own delinquent taxes totaling $7,759,614.

“Tax title refers to properties that have delinquent taxes of which the town has a perfected lien,” said Eric Kinsherf of CPA, LLC, the firm which is providing Harwich with an interim treasurer/tax collector until the position can be filled permanently.

Select Board member Michael MacAskill has been leading the charge over the past five years in trying to get back taxes paid or have the town acquire the properties through eminent domain proceedings. MacAskill made it clear last week he is not happy with the progress made over the past several years.

MacAskill said the town approved $500,000 to address outstanding tax issues and only $8,000 has been spent in two years. Town meeting approved an article in May authorizing the select board to use $1,505,0001 from the sale of town industrial land at 276 Queen Anne Rd. for acquisitions in the best interest of the town, including orders for tax title takings.

“We have another $1.5 million now, let’s hire 10 more legal firms to pursue it,” MacAskill said.

Kinsherf gave a tax title status update to the select board on June 3. He said his presentation will hopefully get all the parties dealing with the tax title issues on the same page. The number one property on the tax title outstanding list is the Judah Eldredge property, 28 acres in East Harwich that the town took by eminent domain in July of 2023, but the tax title issue still needs to be resolved, he said. There is $710,895 in outstanding taxes on the property.

The top 10 delinquent tax title properties owe $1.7 million, about 22 percent of the total outstanding taxes, Kinsherf said. Nine of those have town liens and seven have correspondence with Land Court in the files. Two are listed as owner’s unknown and one is being researched, according to Kinsherf.

The next step is to follow up with the legal firm of Coppola and Coppola on Land Court items and do further research on the owner’s unknown properties. There also needs to be communications with the law office of Iris A. Leahy, as both firms have been retained to address the town’s tax title issues, he said. It is necessary to develop a database to see which attorney is handling each case.

MacAskill also took issue with the lack of progress on a board directive to hold an auction on six properties of low value that were left over from a previous auction at which no bids were received.

“I’m very, very disappointed with the administration,” he said. “We voted for another auction.”

Real Estate and Open Space Committee Chair Elaine Shovlin also took issue with the slow moving process of addressing tax title issues. She said her committee put the list of properties together in December 2019. One property on the list has been delinquent since 1985, she said. She referenced another dating back to 2002 that owes $233,000 and continues to increase. A document that includes a status report of the properties is needed, she said.

“The money is there to act on these properties and you could clear off 30 acres in East Harwich to protect, use for housing, or water protection,” Shovlin said.

The town has been seeking to clear title on the Judah Eldredge property off Hawksnest Road for nearly a decade. Outstanding taxes have climbed over that period from $369,000 to $710,102. While the town now owns the 28-acre parcel, the taxes must be paid to resolve the tax title issue. The property is valued at $1.2 million. The town would also be required to pay heirs to Judah Eldredge nearly $500,000, the difference between the unpaid taxes and value of the property, should heirs come forward.

“We’re buying the land from ourselves,” said MacAskill. It is very unlikely heirs will come forward because title searches have been done and no heirs have been located, he said. The town approved the use of $369,000 in Community Preservation Act funds to be held in escrow

Kinsherf recommended the remaining $58,104 from appropriated funds for the Eldredge property be placed in a separate escrow account in case heirs come forward. If ownership of the property were to be established, the town would likely go to town meeting for the additional funds to make the heirs whole. That approach was also one of the options presented to the select board by town counsel Katie Klein of KP Law.

Community Preservation Committee Chair David Nixon raised questions about how the CPA funds were being used. He said the issue is using CPA funds for a tax title taking. Nixon said his research indicates CPA funds can be used for damages suffered in a land acquisition eminent domain taking, but his committee needs a clear definition of real property and damages. The committee is scheduled to examine the use of the funds in its June 13 meeting.

Nixon also said that if town funds are going to be used to pay the delinquent taxes, which will go into the general fund, the CPA funds should then be returned to his committee for other uses. The planned use was not the intent when approved in town meeting, he added.

MacAskill proposed two motions, one to issue a check to the town in the amount of $710,895 to close out the Judah Eldredge tax title account, and the other to place the remaining $58,000 from available funds in an escrow account to assist in covering the cost if any heirs come forward.

“It’s a hell of a deal for that acreage in the town of Harwich,” said Board of Assessors Chair Richard Waystack.

The board approved the motions unanimously. Select Board Chair Julie Kavanagh said an article should be drafted to reimburse the community preservation committee.

The board also agreed it was time to put a subcommittee together to get all the parties associated with tax title issues together on the same page. MacAskill was named the board’s representative to serve on the subcommittee.

"We need to work together," said Waystack.