Residential tax bills set to rise, rate to go unchanged

The residential tax rate for the upcoming year will remain stable and the commercial tax rate will drop two cents. However, property tax bills will still increase because assessments continue to rise.

In a report to selectmen Tuesday night, Bill Galvin, chairman of the Board of Assessors, stated that the average single family assessment in Canton is now $504,606, a 2.5 percent increase from last year. This means that the average annual tax bill for a single family residence will increase by $162 based on the same residential tax rate of $12.79 per $1,000 valuation.

The average condominium assessment is $266,279, a 7.6 percent increase from last year, and the average condo tax bill will rise by $242. Commercial and industrial assessments rose 3 percent over the last year, Galvin said.

Galvin said Canton has almost $1 million in excess levy capacity and joins over 14 other communities that have reached that level. Galvin said assessors could have set higher rates to raise another $948,000 in revenue but decided not to “tax to the max.”

Galvin also reported new growth of $1.6 million, including 42 new single-family homes and 24 new condos. The total taxable valuation of the town is $4.5 billion. The largest real estate taxpayer is Reebok with an annual bill of $1,147,354. Reebok’s parent company, the Adidas Group, recently announced plans to relocate the company to Boston within the next year. The largest personal property taxpayer is Eversource, which pays $1.733 million in taxes annually. The next property revaluation is scheduled for fiscal year 2021.

In other positive financial news, the town has reached its reserve fund target of 15 percent of expenses and is in fact $2 million over the 15 percent mark.

The Finance Committee reported to selectmen that it plans to keep the reserve level at 15 percent and allow consideration of one-time expenditures of capital projects, cash reserves for additional assessor overlay during reclassification, and further payments to the costs of employee retirement funds.

Selectmen agreed with the FinCom’s recommendation not to hire additional employees and add any annual recurring costs. “We can’t spend like drunken sailors,” said Selectman John Connolly. FinCom Chairman Barbara Saint Andre said the town is in a “very good financial position,” but FinCom members noted the cyclical nature of the economy and believe that town reserves should be kept at the 15 percent level for future downturns …

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Posted by Mike Berger on Nov 18 2016. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.