On the heels of much internet chatter regarding increased vehicle registration fees, presumably in exchange for abolishing the sticker tax, a few things inspired me to revisit an article I wrote 11 months ago. They were a recent property tax due date, followed by Beth Scaer posting a picture of her ready-to-mail payment envelope (not for property taxes, but to register her car) in a chat.
Unlike the drop box at City Hall in Nashua, Epsom’s drop box is located inside the town hall vestibule and does not offer 24-hour access. After arriving at the town hall 5 minutes before opening time on Epsom’s property tax due date (July 1) and seeing three people already in line, I took my place as number four until the clerk unlocked the door. I dropped my payment (inside my own envelope, because they don’t send one with the bill) in the slot. There’s a first time for everything, and I saw the errand as research for knowing what to do next time, and knew my cancelled check would be my receipt, so I’d be darned if I waited in their line.
There are two kinds of strategies for dealing with lines when assuming there’s no way to avoid them otherwise. One way is to get to the place of business before opening time. I’ve done this with voting in Ward 2, at the registry, and even at Market Basket, where the “COVID nightclub doorman” gave people permission to enter, one or two at a time. Unfortunately, too many people, especially in the post-COVID world, have adopted this strategy. That makes one have to spend way too much time waiting for opening time (to be the first person in line), so coming later and getting in the existing line might possibly take less time. The operative words are “might possibly.” Again with the post-COVID world, there are no more “safe times” to do things, like Monday afternoon or Thursday morning, or (anytime not Monday morning or Friday afternoon, for example).
We’ve all heard “you can’t fight city hall,” and I would never expect to be able to “fight TOWN hall,” especially as a newcomer, but knowledge is power (to plan accordingly). I emailed Ms Virginia of the state house gift shop, who is also a selectman, with some reasonable questions. She politely pointed out the stark contrast between city hall and town hall, surmised that it’s a culture shock, but said “they’re looking into possibly moving the lock box outside.” Hey, that’s progress and I will take part of a loaf, especially seeing that I didn’t aggressively crusade for its relocation. After my email dialogue with Virginia about the lock box, I saw Beth’s post with the picture of her registration renewal payment envelope, and it inspired more questions because mine expires in 2 months.
Because I am new to town, it’s another upcoming “first time” thing, and I’m glad I asked questions! Otherwise, I would be asking them later after several days of wondering if I would receive my registration renewal bill in time to tear off the stub, send in the payment, and receive the new one before the current one expires. What I learned is that being new to town doesn’t matter in that NOBODY gets a bill in the mail, let alone an itemized one with instructions and an enclosed payment envelope! I learned that there are two choices; wait in that line(insert rolling eyes emoji here) and paying extra (in the form of that credit card convenience fee that I mentioned in a previous article) to avoid the line by doing it online. Funny that both options contain the word LINE, but there’s technically a 3rd option. You could(once you and your car are in the town database) theoretically pretend you’re doing it online without completing the transaction. Just write down the amount due once you find out, which might be akin to finding out a shipping charge when you order goods online. Then write the check and put your license plate number in the memo, put it inside your own envelope, and drop it in the slot with a generous amount of time for processing before your current registration expires. A Nashua registration renewal bill usually advises the car owner to mail it about one week early, but there’s no telling how much time is needed in a TOWN, such as Epsom.
Virginia pointed out that the town clerk is an elected part-time position and she wears almost all the hats(tax collection, voter and vehicle registration, and perhaps a whole bunch of stuff I haven’t even thought of yet. I was also told that on July 1, the day I hand-delivered my property tax check, the clerk and her part-time assistant were slammed and had to stay open late. I’d like to finish by recognizing Epsom’s town clerk, Margot Keyes, for her patience in answering all my email questions and countless follow-up questions, some of which were even sent on her day off (Wednesday). Many details noted in this article would not be available without her willingness to answer my questions.
In a 9/28/21 statement to her peers, Alderman Lu said she thought City Hall was a form of customer service. I agree with her, and my agreement also applies to town halls. Clerk Keyes is much better at customer service than Clerk Healey.
