Williamstown Will Move On Properties With Outstanding Tax Bills

Tucked away in the forest, hundreds of yards from the road is a roughly 260-acre property known as Swiss Meadows. Named by author and previous owner Cornelia S. Parker, it sits at the top of a hill and contains the vacant buildings of a former school.

The Berkshire Eagle reports the property is up for sale for $795,000. Town officials recently posted a public notice announcing the intent to take the property for unpaid 2018 property taxes in the amount of $19,730.

The parcel's former owners, the Institute for International Cooperation and Development, vacated the property over a year ago when they consolidated their operations at their Michigan location.

This is one of 15 parcels published in the public notices section of The Berkshire Eagle by Williamstown on Sept. 26 to announce its intention to take the properties unless the back taxes are paid.

The total amount of back taxes owed for all the listed properties comes to $47,530. About $760 of that is owed on the properties with unknown owners.

Saddler said the town is fairly aggressive in collecting back taxes for two reasons.

One is that if it goes for too long, it would be that much harder for the owner to pay the bill. And the other is that if there is too much in unpaid taxes, it could start to affect the town's bond rating.