Lanesborough Sets Single Tax Rate, Bills to Increase
LANESBOROUGH, Mass.— The average homeowner's tax bill for fiscal year 2025 will rise about $360.
On Monday, the Select Board adopted a single tax rate of $16.73 per $1,000 valuation.
The rate is a 28-cent decrease from the previous year but the average single-family home valued at $345,786 will see a tax bill increase of $362, totaling $5,785. The average commercial property (estimated at $535,317) will see a $23 increase, paying nearly $9,000 in property taxes annually.
Last year, the same single-family home valued at about $318,800 saw a $107 increase on its bill.
"When people get their tax bills, please remember that you voted for this a town meeting," Select Board member Deborah Maynard said.
"You voted for this budget to be spent."
The tax rate is calculated by dividing the $9.9 million tax levy by the total value of all properties, nearly $592 million, and multiplying it by 1,000. The town will have about $1.6 million in excess levy capacity in FY25, about $150,000 lower than the prior year.
"I know a lot of people think that it has to do with assessments. It's not the assessment that's driving the bill up, it's the levy," Principal Assessor Ross Vivori explained.
"Because if the assessments go up, it drives the tax rate down and if nothing else changed, the bills would stay the same."
The town has about $4.6 million in new growth, or nearly $80,000 in tax levy growth, for FY25. This is significantly less than prior years, with FY24 seeing nearly $297,000 in tax levy growth and the year before at almost $147,000.
New growth largely includes the construction of new homes, additions, substantial remodels, and the creation of condominiums.
The town's total taxable value of $591,947,312 is a nearly 7 percent hike from the prior year, including $495 million in residential properties and almost $48 million in commercial properties. Personal property saw an $83,000 decrease, now sitting at $40 million.
Select Board member Timothy Sorrell asked if the tax classification should be done earlier in the year. With this timeline, the increases are likely to be made up in the last two quarters of tax payments.
Because the state Department of Revenue has to approve all the town's numbers, Vivori said it couldn't be done much earlier.
In other news, Town Manager Gina Dario thanked the poll workers who dedicated their time during the Nov. 5 election. She highlighted Town Clerk Ruth Knysh, who participated in many security briefings and informational sessions from the state to ensure everything went smoothly.
"What the town probably hasn't seen behind the scenes was the amount of focus that this election had just in terms of elections of integrity, and sort of the build-up of concerns for security, for making sure that there would be nothing that would interfere in the process in the lead up for people to vote and certainly in the tallying and the reconciliation and administrative side," Dario said.
Tags: fiscal 2025, property taxes, tax classification,
