By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — In response to the financial hardships that many residents are experiencing, the city's tax collector's office has come up with a plan for homeowners to stretch their property tax payments over a 10-month period.

On Wednesday, the City Council gave first passage to a plan to allow qualifying homeowners to pay their property tax bill in 10 monthly installments, rather than the quarterly payment system that is traditionally used. The plan is expected to be given final approval at the next council meeting on Sept. 9.
According to Cheryl DiGiuseppe, tax collector, those who are interested in the program would have to fill out an application and meet certain criteria in order to qualify for the payment plan. She said the application is currently being developed and will be ready shortly.
The payment plan would be based on the amount of the entire property tax bill that is owed.
In explaining the plan to the council, DiGiuseppe acknowledged that since the new tax bills went out, some homeowners have indicated to the tax collector's office that they are having a difficult time paying their quarterly tax bills.
 She added that many of the same individuals are also waiting the outcome of the appeals process based on the most recent property revaluations.
DiGiuseppe said the Tax Collector's office is willing to work with these individuals, but the decision on who qualifies for the program will be made on a case-by-case basis on established criteria.
She added that if a payment is missed by a property owner, it will be considered as a default of the plan and interest will be charged to the homeowner.
City Councilor Thomas Hodge said that while he was in favor of the plan, he had concerns about it being abused by some property owners. However, DiGiuseppe assured him and the rest of the council that there will be a screening process based on criteria to evaluate hardship.
On a related topic, councilors spoke of the upcoming Taxpayers Information Session that has been scheduled for Sept. 2 at 6 p.m. at the Varieur Elementary School, 486 Pleasant St. The forum will have members of the tax assessors' and tax collectors' offices and other city officials on hand to answer questions about the recent property revaluations and the appeals process.
Councilor Albert Vitali Jr. said that the idea for the public forum came about after he and other councilors received a large number of questions and complaints about the latest property assessments that were conducted by Vision Appraisal. He said there is also some confusion about the appeals process itself, and that individuals will be on hand that night to assist homeowners in filling out the necessary application to request an appeal of their property.
In other matters, the council voted 6 to 1 to approve the first passage of an ordinance establishing a $10 penalty on checks payable to the city of Pawtucket which are returned unpaid for any reason. Councilors lowered the amount from an original proposed fee of $30, but a majority agreed that some charge is necessary to pay for the administrative costs involved with checks that are returned for insufficient funds or other reasons.

Only Councilor John Barry III objected to any fee being imposed at all at this time, citing current economic hardships for taxpayers.

The council also voted to approve the reappointment of Richard Tierney, of 52 Stafford St., to the city's Parks Commission and the reappointment of Roger A. Lemoie, of 51 Julian St., to the Pawtucket Redevelopment Agency.
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