Town Collector retiring after 32 years

Deborah Piva, Dartmouth’s town collector, will be retiring at the end of October after 32 years of service to the town. At the Select Board’s October 15 meeting, she was recognized for her work for the town and the kindness, professionalism, and patience she brought to the position.

“It is my opinion that if Mrs. Piva was born in the 1700s and was a tax collector back then, she would be one of the rare individuals that would not be tarred and feathered,” Select Board Chairman Shawn McDonald said.

The other members of the board echoed McDonald’s appreciation for her work, and presented her with a plaque bearing an official Select Board citation.

Piva also expressed her gratitude to the Select Board and the people of Dartmouth.

“I want to thank the town residents for being the greatest payers of bills,” Piva said. “We have such an excellent collection rate. It may be in part because we get the bills out timely, but I can’t say enough about the residents of the town and their ability to pay timely.”

Piva said that she is very proud of the work she has done to integrate technology into her office. When she was first hired, she did most of her work with a mechanical pencil.

Under her leadership, Dartmouth was the third community in Massachusetts to begin using Tyler software in the Town Collector’s office. Now, over 200 other towns in the state use that same system.

Dartmouth residents can also pay many bills, fees, and taxes online.

“That’s the biggest thing I wanted to see through before I retired,” Piva said.

She said that she will miss working for the town.

“It’s never boring,” Piva explained. “This is a job where you never know from one day to the next who’s going to come in.”