2023 Motor Vehicle Excise bills issued February 7th and due on March 9^th

21,000 Excise tax bills went in the mail this week!

Paying Online is Easy and you will get an emailed receipt!

- Pay Online through City Hall Systems. Here’s how:
- Get your bills in front of you
- Go to the town's website, www.westfordma.gov Select Pay and Look Up Bills from the home page
- Choose Pay Tax Bills on the right.  Or go directly to City Hall Systems www.epay.cityhallsystems.com  
- Select Bill Type – Enter Bill Information and Payment Information
- Bills paid with a debit or credit card are charged a 3% fee by the credit card companies bills paid by E-Check have no processing fees.
- Online users of City Hall Systems can create a User ID to allow them to make payments more quickly, schedule payments for a future date, see - payment transaction history, and sign up for E-Billing, which would help us go green!  

 Other ways to pay...

- Mail payments to Tax Collector's Office, 55 Main Street, Westford, MA 01886
- Drop your check and bill stub in the Drop Box located at the town hall on the left side of the driveway just before the parking lot. (Please do not leave cash)
- Stop in 8 to 4 Monday through Friday. Note: Monday February 20th is a Holiday
- Pay using your own bank's online bill pay system - be sure to update reference information so that your payment gets applied correctly!  Best reference - Year, Tax Type and Bill Number (2023, MVE, Bill #).  

If you no longer own the vehicle for which you have received an excise tax bill, you should contact the Assessor's office to apply for an abatement. They will need to see 2 things – documentation showing what happened to the plate, and what happened to the car.   Assessor’s phone number 978/692-5504.

Question we hear every year, "Why is the bill so high on my old car?"  The amount of excise tax that is attributed to each vehicle is based upon a formula that begins with the list price of the vehicle when it was new.   The tax is calculated by taking the list price value at a certain percentage, which depends on the age of the car, and multiplying that adjusted value by $25 per thousand.  Here's the table that the Registry of Motor Vehicles uses:

Age of Vehicle                           Calc %      Example of Tax Calculation for a List Price of $35,000              

In the year of manufacture:        90%        $35,000 X 90% = $31,500, 31.50 x $25= $787.50

In the second year:                    60%        $35,000 X 60% = $21,000, 21.00 x $25= $525.00

In the third year:                        40%        $35,000 X 40% = $14,000, 14.00 x $25= $350.00

In the fourth year:                      25%        $35,000 X 25% = $  8,750,   8.75 x $25= $218.75

In the fifth & succeeding years    10%        $35,000 X 10% = $  3,500,   3.50 x $25= $   87.50

Once your car is five years old or older, the excise tax amount does not change anymore, no matter how long the car is on the road and no matter what the actual value of the car.  If you have an old car that was very expensive when it was new, and a newer car that is more economical, it is possible to pay a higher excise tax bill on the older car than you are paying on your new car.  More information about excise tax can be found on the Town's website, www.westfordma.gov, on the Tax Collector's page. Click on the Motor Vehicle Excise Information tab on the left.  I hope this information is helpful to you!