PARIS — The town will issue a formal notification to people living on town-foreclosed properties, requiring them to begin paying the back taxes or face possible eviction. 

Selectmen authorized Town Manager Amy Bernard to issue a letter to eight residents urging them to settle their debts or agree to a repayment plan. 

The notices, which will be issued after Labor Day, warn residents they have 14 days to repay the outstanding taxes, interest and costs or make a payment plan with the town.

If residents fail to comply, the letter said, the town will take steps to list the real estate for public purchase.

The properties are a mixture of trailers, land and homes, according to Bernard. In all, the town is owed a total of $53,563.01 from foreclosure fees and new liens for unpaid taxes, a figure which doesn’t include taxes assessed this year. 

“The property foreclosed on by the town will be sold if the taxes, interest and cost are not paid,” the letter said. 

The issue, Bernard said, is residents simply do not believe the town will act against foreclosed properties.

“I think we need to encourage taxpayers to pay,” she said, noting that the problem was not uncommon for other Maine towns.

According to Bernard, Paris’ efforts to collect back taxes goes back at least a decade.

Bernard said selectmen had elected in the past to do nothing and leave the former owners in possession of the property, but the issue had become a concern to their former insurance company.

In June, the town issued 500 liens for unpaid taxes, a figure which had risen by 82 from last year. Town officials were troubled by the number, which has been increasing every year.

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