Any city or town which has adopted an optional fiscal year may adopt a system for quarterly billing and collection of taxes as provided in N.H. Rev. Stat. § 76:15-b.
I. In a city or town that adopts the provisions of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 76:15-b, III, the first quarterly bill shall be due and payable (a) in a city or town that has adopted a charter under N.H. Rev. Stat. Chapter 49-C or RSA 49-D, on April 1, or (b) in a town other than a town that has adopted a charter under RSA 49-D, on a date determined by the governing body not sooner than 30 days and not later than 45 days following the date of town meeting, during the 6-month conversion period prior to the fiscal year beginning on July 1. This bill shall be an amount based on
1/4 of the total previous year’s complete city or town, school, and county levy. The entire amount collected on the first quarterly billing date, except for the county portion, shall be credited to the city or town to fund the 6-month conversion period budget as adopted by the legislative body.
(a) For the purposes of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 80:19, the assessment date for the tax bills due and payable on April 1 of the year of conversion to quarterly tax billing shall be that same date of April 1.
(b) Thereafter, beginning with the newly adopted fiscal year beginning July 1, tax payments shall be due as provided in paragraph II.
II. In any city or town which has adopted both an optional fiscal year and quarterly billing, taxes shall be collected in the following manner:
(a) Tax payments shall be due July 1, October 1, January 2, and March 31 of each fiscal year to fund the optional fiscal year budget which is the basis upon which the tax rate shall be established by the department of revenue administration.
(b) A quarterly billing of the taxes to be due in any tax year shall be computed by taking the previous year’s assessed valuation times the previous year’s tax rate, as determined by the department of revenue administration, divided by 4; provided, however, that whenever it appears to the assessors that certain individual properties have changed in valuation, they may use the current year’s appraisal times the previous year’s tax rate divided by 4 to compute the quarterly payment. Quarterly payments of taxes assessed under this section shall be due and payable on July 1 and October 1. For the purpose of the quarterly payments, a list of assessed property shall be committed by the board of assessors with warrants under their hands and seal directed to the collector no later than May 15. The collector shall mail all the bills for the 2 quarterly payments no later than 30 days before their due dates. The collector shall receive such payments and credit the amount paid towards the amount of the taxes eventually assessed against the property.
(c) Payments of the remainder of the taxes, minus the 2 quarterly payments due on July 1 and October 1 of that year, shall be due and payable in 2 equal billings on January 2 and March 31. For the purpose of these final remaining quarterly payments, the assessor shall commit warrants to the collector. The collector shall mail all the bills for the 2 remaining tax payments no later than 30 days before their due dates. For purposes of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 76:16, N.H. Rev. Stat. § 76:16-a, and N.H. Rev. Stat. § 76:17, the “notice of tax” shall mean the date the board of tax and land appeals determines to be the last date of mailing of the January 2 quarterly tax bill, which bill is based on the current year’s tax rate and assessments.
(d) For the purpose of establishing the real estate tax lien under the provisions of N.H. Rev. Stat. § 80:59, for the tax bills due and payable each year after the adoption of quarterly tax billing, the real estate of every person or corporation may be subject to the tax lien procedure by the collector, in case all taxes against the owner shall not be paid in full on or before April 1 next after its assessment.
III. If, subsequent to the collector issuing quarterly bills, the assessors are made aware of a change in ownership in a parcel so billed, the assessors shall amend the tax list and notify the collector, who, upon the request of the new owner, shall cause to be mailed to the new owner a statement of account showing the balance due on the current quarterly billing.
IV. Interest at the rate of 8 percent per annum shall be charged on all taxes not paid on or before their due dates or 30 days after mailing, whichever is later.
V. (a) Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs II and III, any municipality with quarterly billing affected either by a change in adequate education grants or excess tax amounts, determined pursuant to N.H. Rev. Stat. § 198:41, or by a change of 15 percent or more in the amount of all property taxes to be raised for the current year as compared to the previous year, may apply to the commissioner of revenue administration on forms prescribed by the commissioner to adjust the
1/4 of the previous year’s tax rate by an amount sufficient to collect
1/4 of the estimated increase or decrease in the July and October quarterly bills in city or town, school, or county taxes resulting from the change.
(b) The department of education shall certify, no later than November 15, to the commissioner of the department of revenue administration the difference in the amount of the adequate education grants and excess tax amounts between the current fiscal year and the forthcoming fiscal year for every municipality.
(c) Any municipality requesting an adjusted rate for the quarterly bills shall submit such request to the commissioner of the department of revenue administration by April 1 prior to the issuance of the July and October quarterly bills.
(d) The department of revenue administration shall expedite certified adjusted rate applications.