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Property
taxes are going up $175.95 on a single-family home assessed
at the town average of $457,300.
The tax bill
for that average home will be $4,903. for the 12 months
(fiscal year 2007) that end June 30, 2007.
A result
of a vote by selectmen Tuesday night (Nov. 21), the residential
tax rate for the will be $10.72 per thousand dollars of
assessed value, down 22 cents from the previous 12 months.
But the rate
is down because the value of homes is up -- by 5.83 percent.
Combine the lower rate and the higher assessments and the
result is that the tax bill on that average $457,300 house
grows by 3.72 percent.
How much
taxes on a specific home will change depends on its new
assessment. The new values are expected to be available
in the board of assessors' office and through their web
pages early next month, after the state approves the town's
tax calculations. The new values will appear on the next
property tax bill; the bills so far in the fiscal year have
been estimates.
In presenting
the numbers to selectmen, Dennis Flis, the town's full-time
assessor, noted that homeowners seeing the higher values
might be wondering "don't these guys read the paper." But,
Flis explained, the new values are based on sales prices
throughout 2005, before this year's fall-off.
He stressed
that the town would collect the same amount of property
taxes this year, $43.6 million, even if home assessments
were lower, because in that case, the rate per thousand
would be higher.
The 3.72
percent increase reflects the 2.5 percent allowed under
Proposition 2.5 plus overrides and new growth.
The board
of assessors calculates the tax rate in light of a selectmen's
vote to set the classification rate that determines whether
or not business property contributes at a higher rate than
homeowners. The selectmen voted Tuesday night to keep the
125 percent number for business that's been in effect for
two years.
The new rate
for business property is $14.15, up from $13.89. Business
property accounts for 12 percent of the town's total valuation
of $3.9 billion. That's about half of the 1983 percentage,
according to information presented by assessors.
In comparison
to the FY 2007 average home price of $457,328, the average
for 2004 was $295,646 and for 1998, $188,200, according
to the assessors.
-- Tom Glynn
As customary,
assessors Tuesday night included in their package a comparison
of average tax bills for FY 2006 in Walpole and adjacent
communities.
Average single-family home, fiscal 2006
| |
tax |
assessment |
state rank |
| Dover |
$10,004 |
$1,099,287 |
4 |
| Medfield |
7,290 |
575,797 |
18 |
| Sharon |
6,839 |
452,645 |
24 |
| Westwood |
6,770 |
652,824 |
25 |
| Norfolk |
5,566 |
445,224 |
41 |
| Walpole |
4,727 |
432,084 |
62 |
| Foxboro |
4,230 |
409,838 |
90 |
| Norwood |
2,987 |
406,974 |
200 |
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