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Date: 10/16/2015
CHICOPEE – On Oct. 28, the City Council will set the tax rate for 2016 and if they adopt the same formula that was used last year, Mayor Richard Kos predicted there would be a decrease of $45 on the average property tax bill.
Last year the City Council voted a classification that resulted in a 150 percent commercial shift. If they vote to use the same shift the residential property tax shift would be $17.05 per thousand and the commercial rate would be $30.77.
Last year’s residential rate was $17.54 per thousand and the commercial rate was $31.67.
Kos said the assessors have authorized the council to go to 151 percent or 152 percent that would result in a residential rate of $16.98 and $16.91 respectively.
The reduction in the tax rate includes the recent $700,000 addition to the levy limit approved by the City Council for public safety supports.
The mayor added this year the city is about a million below last year’s tax levy.
Kos added valuations of properties could also affect tax bills. He said Chicopee has the lowest residential single-family tax bill in the region besides Springfield. The average bill is $2,930.
Last year the average single family home was valued at $169,606. This year the average value is $171,851.
City Council President George Moreau said part of the reason for the good news about taxes is the “cooperation and coordination” between the mayor and the council. “We talk with the mayor and give him our thoughts. We work together very closely,” Moreau added.