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Date: 12/7/2022
WESTFIELD — After the City Council voted to set this year’s tax rates, Mayor Michael McCabe reiterated his stance that free cash is better used on community safety and road infrastructure projects than the proposed tax relief.
The City Council voted 8-4 on Nov. 28 evening to raise the tax shift factor for fiscal year 2023 (FY23) from 1.68 to 1.69, placing slightly more of the burden from residential onto commercial taxpayers in Westfield. Before the vote, the City Council had requested that McCabe use $1.1 million in free cash — unspent funds left over from previous city budgets — to lower the overall tax burden, but McCabe denied that request, saying that it would only amount to a $70 tax break for the average individual homeowner next year.
Days after the meeting, McCabe said that there had been plenty of time during the FY23 budget process earlier this year for the council to include such funds to reduce the impact on taxes.
“There were eight hearings for the budget, and six were with different department heads. If [the City Council] felt that there was room to give a further tax break or move free cash into some of those line items, that was their opportunity to do so,” said McCabe on Dec. 1. “But they didn’t. They thought the budget sent by my team was a good budget.”
The FY23 budget approved by the City Council on June 14 is $161,540,593, a 2.2 percent increase from FY22.
“To blame me five months after the fact is really misplaced,” said McCabe.
Rather than give the average homeowner a $70 tax break, McCabe said he would prefer to prioritize road fixes and general improvements to day-to-day life.
“My mandate coming into office was two-fold: fix the roads, and make sure we have a safe community,” said McCabe. “I am not trying to pick a fight, but I will not be pilloried by part of the council.”
According to a Nov. 17 presentation by City Assessor Ashlie Brown, last year’s tax rates in Westfield, based on a 1.68 tax shift and FY22 property values, were $18.49 per $1,000 assessed value for residential property, and $36.31 for commercial, industrial and personal property. “Personal property” is equipment and inventory owned by businesses in Westfield.
Brown’s presentation said a 1.69 tax shift would yield $17.00 as the residential tax rate, and $33.57 for businesses, in FY23. Despite the lower rates, actual bills for most taxpayers will be higher than in FY22, as property values have increased.
City Councilor Kristen Mello, who was one of four “no” votes for the shift to 1.69 and supported going as high as 1.74, suggested at the end of the Nov. 28 meeting that the $1.1 million in free cash instead be used to fund a voucher program with Westfield Gas & Electric for households with incomes below $50,000 for the Federal Communications Commission’s Affordable Connectivity Program.
Mello’s suggestion came in the form of a motion, which will be considered during the Dec. 1 City Council meeting.