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Date: 11/27/2023
BELCHERTOWN — Based on a presentation given by the Board of Assessors, the tax rate is projected to drop in fiscal year 2024.
Last year, the tax rate was $16.32 per $1,000 valuation and even though it is projected to drop to $15.32 this fiscal year, the value of homes continues to be on the rise.
At the Nov. 20 Select Board meeting, the Board of Assessors came before the board to host their annual tax classification hearing.
The purpose of this hearing was to provide information and relevant data regarding the allocation of the property tax levy among residential and commercial property owners for the FY24.
Director of Assessments John Whelihan said, “This is the pretty much the final step in the budget process for next year.”
He added that since 1980, each municipality is given the option to select a residential factor which will determine the percentages of tax to be borne by each class of property.
Whelihan said that last year, the Select Board selected a residential factor of one resulting in a single, uniform tax rate.
The presentation compared the average valuations and tax bills from FY23 to the projected FY24.
Even though the tax rate is projected to drop, the amount of taxes you pay will rise.
In FY23, a single-family home was valued at $345,528 but is now estimated to cost $381,145 in FY24.
That single family home who was paying $5,639 in taxes in FY23 is projected to be paying $5,839 in FY24.
Whelihan also compared the tax rates for surrounding and comparable communities. It had four separate columns that included tax rate, average value, average tax bill and tax levy.
Out of the 12 communities listed, Belchertown ranked right in the middle in each category.
The Select Board had the option to vote for a Commercial, Industrial and Personal Property shift percentage that would lower the residential tax rate and raise the CIP tax rate.
Whelihan said the maximum percentage shift allowed would be 50%, which would lower the residential tax rate to $14.77 and raise the CIP tax rate to $22.98.
The board ultimately elected not to shift the rate because they did not want to deter businesses.
Select Board member Ron Aponte said, “I’ve been an advocate of the residential factor being one. Not having a residential factor of one is just bad business. It makes us very unmarketable to existing town businesses as well as moving new businesses looking to move in.”
The Select Board unanimously voted to keep the residential factor at a one.
Whelihan added that he will work on adding the presentation to the Board of Assessors’ website.