Lanesborough Tax Rate Increases 45 Cents
 The Board of Selectmen opted to stay with a single tax rate on Monday. |
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — Tax rates are jumping by 45 cents per $1,000 of assessed value following the Board of Selectmen's adoption of a single tax rate of $18.52.
The town will levy $7.2 million for taxes, bringing it to $162,883 under the Proposition 2 1/2 levy limit. Last year, the town hiked the rate by $1 after the Berkshire Mall successfully appealed its assessment.
According to Assessor Kelly Baumert, the average property value is $213,026 — a decrease of about $1,000. A bill for that average value would be $3,935 — a $65 increase from last year.
"Our overall evaluation, the total taxable value, went down $1,850,887 but that is a combination of everything," Baumert said.
The Selectmen easily approved the rate Monday without discussing a shift with commercial properties. Baumert said only 20 percent of the value comes from commercial taxpayers so a shift wouldn't translate to a significant reduction for residential. At the maximum shift, Baumert said the residential rate would drop to $16.17 and shift commercial to $27.79.
Resident Ronald Tinkham voiced favor of keeping a single rate saying, "we don't have a large commercial base where if we had a split tax rate could help the residents."
The Selectmen were presented a draft report from Berkshire Regional Planning Commission Planner Doug Plachcinski, who analyzed town roads to help prioritize future paving projects. Plachcinski said Summer Street, Prospect Street and Swamp Road are priorities but overall, the town is in a good position.
"The extra traffic did a number on Swamp Road," Plachcinski said of the construction of the town's best ranked road, the new Connector Road by the mall.
The worst road is the one going to Balance Rock but that is the state's responsibility, Plachcinski said. He said the next projects should be Potter Mountain Road and Prospect Street. Summer Street is going to be expensive, he said, but should be done afterward. Town Administrator Paul Sieloff said the town has applied for a $500,000 grant for that project.
Bailey Road has only been partially resurfaced and Plachcinski said the rest needs to be done too.
Overall, Plachcinski said since the most traveled roads are owned by the state, the town has done a good job keeping up with road repairs.
In other business, Jay Street video games and Gold Deposit, both at the Berkshire Mall, were approved for pawnbroker or secondhand dealer licenses. The two businesses are the first to receive the licenses after voters approved new bylaws requiring the license after police requested stricter laws in order to help track down stolen items sold to pawn brokers.
Tags: property taxes, tax classification,
