A different way to pay your Charlestown property taxes

Under little-know new provision, you can set up auto-payments in increments of one week, two weeks, monthly or quarterly

 By Will Collette

Charlestown property taxes technically became due for payment on September 1 (Sunday), though you have a 30-day grace period to pay them.

You have a new option for method of payment. 

You can now set up automatic withdrawals from your bank account by filing out a form (see sample at left and links to the form below).

This allows you to pay in installments as little as one week. Instead of having to remember when you need to pay, all you need to remember is to account for these payments in your budget.

I didn’t find out about this myself. My colleague Tom Ferrio forwarded me an article from the website of Charlestown Residents United (CRU and NOT the CCA) which follows and explains the process in greater detail.

Here's CRU's timely advice:

Eliminate Tax Payment Schedule Stress

By Charlestown Residents United

Most people pay their Charlestown property taxes quarterly. 

With today's busy schedules, sometimes people forget. The penalties are substantial if it slips your mind until after the 30 day grace period.

But Charlestown has a little-known program to automatically make the payment from your checking or savings account on the due date so you won't have to remember it and you won't have late fees. 

And you will get email notice to remind you to have the money in your account. Unlike paying with a credit card, there is no fee for this service.

The taxpayer has the option of having payments automatically deducted from their bank account either Weekly, Bi-Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly or Annually. The form, in Microsoft Word format, is available on the town website here. 

For those who do not have software to open that file we created a PDF format version here. Or you can get a paper form at the tax desk in town hall.

© 2019 Charlestown Residents United, PO Box 412, Charlestown, RI 02813