By Dawn De Busk

Staff Writer

NAPLES — Almost $100,000 is owed to the Town of Naples in unpaid personal property tax. 

Of that total dollar amount, about 40 percent is accrued interest. That is according to Naples Town Manager John Hawley, who brought up the subject during the Naples Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday.

The $100,000 figure comes from personal property tax bills from 1996 to 2021. 

If the selectmen are on board, the town wouldlike to: 1.) notify the business-owners who owe a leftover debt on the personal property tax bill, and 2.) Offer those people an opportunity to pay the bill minus the interest.

“We would like to offer an amnesty period to try to get those funds collected and off our books,” Hawley said. 

The board voted, 4-0, to request that town staff put together a list of how much each business owes. The other piece of data is: how many of those businesses are no longer in existence. That information will be on the agenda for the Feb. 28 meeting. 

Personal property tax, also known as the business tax, is a tax levied on equipment used at a place of business. 

Because of how personal property tax is handled, compared to real-estate property tax, it is understandable that some business owners might be unaware of past due amounts, Hawley said

“I think one other reason this amount has grown. The way it [the bill] is printed. It shows what is owed for that year and not the previous year. It is ‘Out of sight. Out ofmind,’” he said. “We don’t send out back tax bills for the personal property tax.”

Paula Miller, who hold the titles of Administrative Assistant and Assistant Clerk and Freedom-of-Information Access Officer, is also the personal property tax agent for the town. She proposed the idea of an amnesty period to encourage people to pay the principal tax bill and be forgiven the interest.  

“What we would like to do is to go through and mail to folks that owed back taxes. If they have several thousand dollars that they are behind, we will send them a reminder,” Hawley said. 

Selectman Kevin Rogers said, 

“We are talking about going back to 1996. What is that going to be? Two dollars,” Rogers asked. 

“I am not going to waste the postage stamp for a $2 bill,” Hawley said.

Vice-chair Bob Caron II was looking at the list. He stated that the majority of the back taxes fell between the years of 2007 and 2021.

“Last year alone was $5,000 for 2021,” he said.

Selectman Colin Brackett expressed concerns that amnesty isn’t enough to encourage payment.  

“Even if we grant amnesty, there is no guarantee that it will be paid,” he said. 

The town manager agreed — more or less. 

“There is no guarantee. We might have a handful that once they realize it is out there, especially with the biz license attached, decide to pay,” Hawley said. 

“A 60-day grace period would be fair. That would bring us into April, which is when property tax is due,” he said. 

Rogers said that eliminating the interest is unfair to the people who have been paying their bills on time. 

“Is it the same with property tax. We pay more because other people don’t pay. That is why there is an overlay,” Caron said. 

Rogers said, “Your property tax isn’t a mystery. Whereas,the personal property tax isn’t as well known.”