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Chicopee homeowners to see decreased bills

Date: 9/29/2009

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor



CHICOPEE -- Mayor Michael Bissonnette will bring a revised tax rate for the city council's approval on Sept. 30 that lowers the average homeowner's bill.

Bissonnette said the average home value slipped from $190,736 to $182,709, which he attributed to the shifting in the real estate market. With that decrease the average tax bill should drop some $44.

The average residential bill in the city is $2,474. The average bill for Chiocpee is the lowest tax bill in Western Massachusetts, according to Bissonnette.

In the last two years, there has been $80 million in new growth in the city, he said, resulting in a $2 million addition on the tax base.

"Being pro business helps on the residential side," Bissonnette said. "The more we can pick up in business growth, the less we ask the homeowners."

Although the decrease might be slight for some, the mayor added, "If my bills don't go up, I'm grateful."

He added that Chicopee has seen no new fees, produced a balanced budget, had no layoffs this year and now enjoys a tax cut.

The tax rate allows the city to be about $1 million beneath its levy limit, the mayor said. The levy limit is a restriction on the amount of property taxes a community can raises under the provisions of Proposition 2 1/2.

"This gives us some breathing room for next year," he said.

While the tax rate is good news, Bissonnette said he has been receiving updates from the Patrick Administration on potential bad news: mid-budget year reductions in state aid and spending.

He said the actual revenues generated by the state are beneath the revised projected numbers -- not a good sign.

Bissonnette anticipates the first cuts might come in January to state departments. If the revenues are worse than expected now, the governor might ask the Legislature for the power to make more cuts, he explained.

Bissonnette expects decreases to local aid or schools would be a last resort.

What might help the city next year weather cuts, when its impact is understood, is the local options meals tax, he added.