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Date: 12/14/2022
SOUTH HADLEY – The Selectboard opened a hearing for the town’s tax classifications during their Dec. 6 meeting and concluded that property taxes will be on the rise and how much depends on which fire district homeowners live in.
The Selectboard meeting served as a joint meeting between the town body and the representative bodies from Fire Districts No. 1 and No. 2. The three groups unanimously approved a single tax rate for all property classes in the town and in the districts.
Typical single family property owners in Fire District No. 1 will see a nearly $300 increase in their tax bills in fiscal year 2023, a noticeable jump than what average homeowners are facing in Fire District No. 2 based on information presented during the hearing.
The Selectboard’s decision means a $194.92 increase in the tax bill, a raise from $4,939.94 in this fiscal year to $5,134.86 in fiscal 2023. While the tax rate is dropping to $15.42 per $1,000 from $16.45 per $1,000 valuation, the value of the typical single-family home is going up, moving from $300,300 to $333,000.
According to Associate Assessor Melissa Couture Rimbold, this increases reflect a continued strong housing market. Selectboard member Nicole Casolari asked Rimbold how the town compares to other communities in tax rates with having these two districts.
“The closest community to us with a district is Palmer and they have five of them. Some of our surrounding communities we have very similar tax rates,” Rimbold said. “I’m hopeful we can keep things low and stay that way.”
For Fire District No. 1, covering a large section of town that includes the Falls area, an additional $99.68 tax bill increase will be seen by the typical resident, with a tax rate increase from $2.03 per $1,000 valuations to $2.13 per $1,000 evaluation for fire, water and ambulance services in the district.
Fire District No. 2 residents will also see a tax bill increase at $22.79, but the tax rate for those single-family properties is dropping from $2.53 per $1,000 valuation to $2.35 per $1,000 valuation for district services. However, the average tax bill for Fire District No. 2 residents will remain higher at $5,917.41 compared to $5,844.15 for Fire District No. 1 residents.
“We’re all going to hear about this the rest of the year,” said Selectboard member Andrea Miles about questions being directed to town officials about the tax bill increase in Fire District No. 1.
One District 1 resident expressed concern with the increase, adding that those on fixed incomes will be impacted in a harsher way due to it. Couture Rimbold noted that the districts, unlike the town, have no constraints for spending under the state’s Proposition 2 ½ tax-cap law.
Fire District No. 1 Committee member John Wojciechowski said the biggest factors in the budget increase includes staffing changes, an ambulance purchase and salary adjustments. The budget increase will trigger the district’s tax rate increase and is necessary to keeping and hiring employees, which has been a challenge all over the state, according to Wojciechowski.
Wojciechowski added that they felt this was necessary in order to continue competing for workers. He also noted that he hopes to not have as much of a budget increase next year.
According to Fire District No. 2 committee member Kenneth LeBlanc, his district has been dealing with the same issues. He noted that with Mount Holyoke College’s shutdown during the start of the coronavirus pandemic, it ended up being a big blow to the district’s finances as they still had to stay staged for emergencies.
Commercial and industrial properties will see a decrease of $95.07 in their tax bills, from $5,754.21 to $5,659.14, as their average valuations rose from $349,800 to $367,000. Those in Fire District No. 1 will see an added increase of $71.62, while those in Fire District No. 2 will see another drop of $22.54.