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Date: 11/29/2022
NORTHAMPTON – During a special meeting on Nov. 22, the City Council unanimously voted for a single tax rate for all four property classes in Northampton.
The council sent the order to their consent agenda during their Nov. 3 meeting. They were supposed to officially vote on the tax classification during their Nov. 17 meeting, but the city’s website went down after a hardware problem.
Because of that, some items are delayed until the Dec. 1 meeting, but the council decided to specifically vote on the tax classification rate on Nov. 22.
Under Massachusetts General Law, the City Council and mayor decide each year whether to implement a single tax rate or a split tax rate in the city. According to Marc Dautreuil, the principal assessor for Northampton, the best way to determine whether a single or split tax rate is appropriate is by determining what the city’s tax levy percentage split is between residential, commercial, industrial and personal property.
The city tax rate for fiscal year 2022 (FY22) was $17.89 per $1,000 of assessed property value and approved a single tax rate for all four properties.
The council voted to maintain that single tax classification for FY23, which means the tax rate will be $15.84 per $1,000, the lowest its been since 2015, according to Marc Dautreuil, the principal assessor.
In all, this is a 13 percent decrease from last year’s number.
The average single family home in the city was assessed at $424,527, a 25 percent increase from the previous year.
During the Nov. 3 hearing, Dautreuil said that while home values are going up in the city, the new tax rate means that the amount of taxes paid in January will be lower than expected.
According to Dautreuil, splitting the tax rate would lower the residential tax rate to $14.62 per $1,000, compared to the $15.84 per $1,000 with a single tax rate. Under a split tax rate, the commercial rate would rise from $15.84 per $1,000 to $26.12 per $1,000.
“The city of Northampton does not have the infrastructure to properly support a split tax rate,” said Dautreuil. “The type of commercial properties that Northampton has are not conducive to a split rate, as most split-rate communities have either large industrial complexes, or a combination of industrial complexes and big box stores.”
In addition, Dautreuil argued that the city is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic – therefore raising the tax rate for small businesses would be “crippling.”
“I recommend a single tax rate for the city of Northampton,” said Dautreuil. “A single tax rate is the most fair and feasible option for all classes of property. In addition, $15.84 per $1,000 is already extremely reasonable as a tax rate as it is in the lower one-third of all of tax rates in all of Massachusetts.”