Frequently Asked Questions

First is your Real Estate Lender escrowing your taxes? if so the bills will go to them for payment if they have notified us that they are taking the responsibility. Second did you pay off your mortgage recently? If so you must stop by the Tax Office and sign a form taking over responsibility for paying the Real Estate tax (and receive the tax bills) and so we can remove your lender from the escrow responsibility list for your real estate. Did you just sell or buy the property in question? Then the new owner is responsible for the outstanding taxes. Make sure that tax liability is clarified with your closing attorneys, the Town does not get involved with this.

Please review Policy 50-3b for eligibility and process questions. Wire transfers require preapproval by the Tax Collector to use. Email notification and payment file structure to be used when using wire transfers are there. You must also receive account information for the transfer. Only approved transferers will be given this information.

The number one reason for not getting your Motor Vehicle tax bill is that your registration with the DMV had expired when the bills were generated. Re-register your vehicle with the DMV and you should get a supplemental or regular tax bill when they are generated 2 times a year (July and January). DMV registration issues can include: Plate changes, emissions test failures or non-compliance, changes of address, wrong domicile classification (What Town your vehicle is registered in) Orange is Town 107, Death of one of the owners and subsequent owner redesignation, and #1 failure to register your vehicle on time. Check online at the CT Department of Motor Vehicle website to verify your information before coming to the Tax Office. DMV errors must be cleared first since our data source is the CT DMV database.

Yes, starting on 12/4/2023 we will be taking credit/debit cards at the tax windows, Internet Voice Response (203) 902-0387 and On-line,       

https://orange-ctmybill.com.  On 12/4/2023 we will take most American Express, Mastercard, Visa and Discover Card branded credit and debit cards. ACH e-checks will also be accepted on-line.

 Yes, Tax information on real estate, Personal Property and Registered Motor Vehicles in a taxpayer name only.  You can not look up leased vehicles at this time.  Please call the Tax Collectors Office for information.  https://orange-ctmybill.com 

General Services: 8:30am -12:00pm; 1:00pm -4:30pm

Window Payment Services: 8:30am -12:00pm; 1pm-4:00pm 

(staffing permitting, 2 staff members required)

Special Tax Season Hours July and January 8:30am -4:00 pm

NON- Window Payments by check only: 8:30 - 4:30 

(use Mail slot in the office) No third party Checks!

Yes, the Convenience Fees are as follows effective 12/4/2023:

                             Credit Card   2.5%

                             Debit Card   1.5%

                             E-Check      $1.50

The Town does not receive the Convenience Fees as these pay the vendor for providing the service.                                       

Tax Collector or Tax Collector, Town of Orange.

You will need to contact the Assessors Office.  (203-891-4724)

No, Same day release is not offered as a current service. Cash payments are electronically processed overnight and the release should occur the next day. All other forms of payment may have up to an 10-day period before clearing DMV Holds.

We do not currently report delinquent taxes to the major credit bureaus. However, the Town does employ 3rd party vendors for collection purposes including the American National Recovery Group, State Marshalls and Town Constables.

Starting 12/4/2023, we will be accepting most credit and debit cards that are American Express, Visa, MasterCard or Discover branded cards. This includes Diner's Club, Carte Blanche and other affinity cards branded by the above credit providers on the card.

Tax Bills are generated in mid-June after the mill rate has been set. First Installments are due 1 JULY. The mill rate which is needed to generate the tax bill requires an approved town budget. This usually occurs in mid-May after a referendum is voted on. We do not issue a second bill if the taxpayer splits their Real Estate and /or Personal Property bill. The taxpayer is responsible for remembering the Jan 1st 2^nd installment payment. Motor Vehicles are fully due on 1 July. Supplemental Motor Vehicle bills are generated in mid-December are due the 1^st of January. The state statutes allow for a payment grace period of 31 days after the due date. 

If you paid by ACH, we recommend you call your bank to stop payment of the check.  If the staff member who has clearance to the Sturgis Account is available and has the time to try and reverse the echeck, it can sometimes be intercepted same day. Otherwise, you need to provide us with an email giving us your online confirmation number (emailed to you by the vendor or obtained by a screen print), contact information, the account you actually paid and the amount of the payment, so we can identify the right transaction. The email should also explain what happened. We cannot refund an echeck until 8 business days after it has actually entered the electronic payment stream. This means the charge will hit your checking account. The system requires this time to make sure payments have cleared before refunds can be considered. If you paid by Credit Card, you should call your credit card company and have them put a hold on the charge from Sturgis #0011112795 Catalis. Debit cards require you follow the procedures given to you when the Debit Card was setup as this usually means the money has already been removed from your account. When you email us with the information above, we can be looking for the transaction as you have affected another taxpayer's account as well. NOTE THIS OFFICE WILL TRY AND HELP YOU BUT YOU NEED TO CONTACT YOUR PAYING PARTY FIRST. WE CANNOT GUARANTEE THAT WE CAN STOP PAYMENTS FROM HITTING YOUR ACCOUNT. ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS ARE INVOLVED AT ALL LEVELS OF THESE TRANSACTIONS. FIXING THESE MISTAKES TAKES TIME! WE NEED THE EMAIL FOR AN AUDIT TRAIL. 

These are the most likely reasons for not getting your Town MV bills.

a. Is your vehicle currently registered with a valid set of registration dates? Check with DMV. Unregistered vehicles are not allowed on CT streets. Renewals are only good for at most three years before they must be re-registered and state fees paid. Late payments will usually result in a Supplemental Bill being generated by the Assessor's Office.

b. Have you notified DMV of any change to your address? Per 14-17a of the CT General Statutes you have 48 hours to notify the DMV of your change of address.