Tax Sale Notices Sent to 1,100 Woonsocket Homes, Questions Overwhelm City Hall Phone System

Ratepayers in Woonsocket received an unpleasant surprise over the holiday weekend when tax sale notices for delinquent water, sewer, and trash bills, mailed to more than 1,100 city homes, included several letters sent in error. The reaction by concerned homeowners overwhelmed City Hall phone lines and tied up officials for most of their first day back to work in 2012.

The notices mark the city's first attempt to use the threat of tax sale to collect on delinquent bills for city services. Past in Woonsocket have targeted property owners with significant debt on municipal taxes and have not included warnings for those behind on payments for water, sewer and trash.

"Many other water systems do the same thing we're doing now, and that's where we got the idea," said Mayor Leo Fontaine.

Errors by an outside vendor, however, worsened confusion over the new process, according to Fontaine. Many property owners who had recently paid their bills, or who had only minor balances, were told their land would "be advertised on the 7th day of March, 2012 in The Woonsocket Call and will be sold at public auction on the 28th day of March."

"This was enough to make anyone worried," said Finance Director Thomas Bruce of the communication. Bruce indicated that the outside vendor, who has yet to be identified by city officials, was fully to blame for the errors.

The notices, which were sent out on Friday, arrived at most homes on Saturday. Worried ratepayers forced to wait through the long holiday weekend flooded City Hall and crashed municipal phone lines Tuesday morning with questions. After several rings, callers got dead air on most city lines.

The finance department sent out a press release on the issue late Tuesday afternoon. "It has come to our attention that certain ratepayers received these notices erroneously," explained the release. "Upon review, it has been found that the mailing occurred due to an error in the data used by the outside vendor that the city utilizes for these mailings. The City of Woonsocket regrets and apologizes for any inconvenience that the mailing may have caused."

"We had $150 threshold that was not adhered to at all," said Bruce of the errors. Bruce initially stated that around 500 of the notices were sent by mistake, but at the City Council meeting Tuesday night Fontaine said he believed the number to be much lower.

"The majority are people that were delinquent that may have just recently come in and paid," said Fontaine. "We were concerned at first about how many, but after working with the outside vendor, the number appears to be lower."

Fontaine said his office received hundreds of emails, phone calls and visits about the issue. The mayor personally assisted many of the residents and worked with the team tasked with identifying the errors.

"We all went at it together and I give him a lot of credit," said Bruce.

The city is expected to correct the matter through a subsequent mailing to account holders that are delinquent. Account holders who received the notice in error will also receive a letter clarifying the matter and ensuring that they are not part of the tax sale group.  "The city will ensure that all corrections are properly documented," the press release stated.

Residents are instructed to contact City Hall at 762-6400 with any questions. Those unable to cover the bills immediately will be offered payment plans.

"The message is, if you're having a hard time, call," said Fontaine. 

Please note: the above article has been edited to include the most recent information available on this story.