Real Estate & Personal Property

The city operates on a fiscal year that runs from July 1 to June 30. Real estate and personal property bills are mailed quarterly with the bills being issued on July 1, Oct. 1, Jan. 1, and April 1. The bills are due thirty days from the date of issue. Demand notices are issued during early June for those accounts where the tax is not paid in full. Failure to pay real estate tax can result in the property being placed into tax title, and if the situation cannot be resolved, the city does have the legal right to foreclose on the property. Once a property is placed into a tax title the jurisdiction passes from the Collector's Office to the Treasurer's Office.

Motor Vehicle

Motor vehicle excise bills for those vehicles that are garaged in the City of Westfield as of January 1 are mailed out during late February or early March. There are other smaller mailings done for vehicles that are purchased during the year. The bills are due 30 days from the date of issue. If the original bill is not paid, a notice of demand is issued. If that is not paid, a notice of warrant is issued. This is delivered by hand to the taxpayer's place of residence if the mailed notice of warrant is not paid. Finally, if none of these notices are paid, the taxpayer is flagged at the Registry of Motor Vehicles and the taxpayer cannot renew his or her license or register a car until the situation is resolved.

Please note that all motor vehicle information, including address, is received by the City directly from the Registry of Motor Vehicles.  In order to ensure that you receive your excise tax bills, please be sure that the RMV has your most up to date address information.  

Utility Billing

The combined utility bill is a quarterly bill with taxpayers being billed based upon whatever city services they use (Water, Sewer, and Waste Management). The city is divided up into three billing sections with bills being issued quarterly. There is a combined utility bill issued for a section of the city each month. These bills are due 60 days from the date of issue. Any combined utility bills that are not paid for a particular fiscal year become liens on the property and appear on the third quarter real estate bill for the following fiscal year which is issued on December 31.

Payments

Bills can be paid in several different ways.

An envelope is enclosed with each bill that can be used to mail in the payment portion of the bill with a check or money order.  The payment portion of the bill must be included with your payment to ensure timely and accurate posting.  If the payment portion of the bill is not included, your payment will be delayed and may be subject to interest if it is received by this office after the payment due date.

The City accepts online payments, by e-check and by credit and debit card.  Please see the Online Bill Pay section below.

You may also mail payments to the Collector's Office at 59 Court Street, Westfield, MA 01085.  There is a dropbox available near the basement handicap entrance for non-cash payments.  If you would like a receipt, please include a self addressed stamped envelope and a receipt will be mailed.