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Date: 11/22/2021
WESTHAMPTON – The Westhampton Selectboard recently voted to maintain the town’s single tax rate for fiscal year 2022.
Assistant Assessor David Zagorski made the recommendation to board members at its Nov. 8 meeting. A single tax rate, also known as a factor of one, indicates that all property – residential, commercial, industrial and personal – is taxed at the same rate. Conversely, a split tax rate would shift some of the tax burden from residential taxpayers to commercial and industrial properties.
“Not much about our status has changed,” he said. “We’re still a small town [and] there’s not much to go with in terms of commercial.”
According to information provided by Zagorski, a municipality should have a commercial tax base making up at least 20 to 25 percent of the total taxable property to consider a split rate. In Westhampton, 95 percent of the tax burden is borne by residential property.
While overall, the town’s total property value jumped from $241.5 million in FY21 to $249.2 million in FY22, according to Zagorski’s report, Selectboard Chair Philip Dowling noted the tax value for CIP properties decreased by 1 percent, falling from $14.5 million to $13.1 million.
“That was mostly due to the state-reported telephone companies,” Zagorski told the board. “They declared the values less than what they had previously done. But that comes from the state, so what can we do?”
Residential values increased by approximately 3 percent from $227 million in FY21 to $236.1 million in FY22.
The Selectboard also had the option of offering a residential exemption or a small commercial exemption but declined to enact either. An open space discount was also not applicable due to the fact that Westhampton does not have any properties meeting the classification.
A residential exemption would not have been advantageous to taxpayers due to the lack of vacation or non-owner occupied properties. The small commercial exemption would have allowed a 10 percent discount on property tax for businesses with less than 10 employees with a value of less than $1 million a year, but Zagorski did not recommend the measure due to the lack of large commercial businesses such as big box stores.
Zagorski said this year’s process was smoother than the previous two, noting last year’s tax classification hearing did not take place until December. “We’re not under the gun here,” he said.
Zagorski later told Reminder Publishing the tax rate was set at $20.49 per $1,000, a decrease from the previous fiscal year.
Westhampton’s tax rate had gradually risen in recent years. In FY21, the rate was $20.64 per $1,000; in FY20, $20.32; and FY19, $20.29.