North Adams Tax Rate Up 5 Percent for Fiscal 2015
.JPG) Mayor Richard Alcombright addresses the City Council at Tuesday's tax classification hearing. |
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The City Council on Tuesday approved 8-1 a tax shift differential of 1.71, the same as last year, for fiscal 2016.
That sets the residential tax rate at $16.71 per $1,000, up 79 cents from $15.92. The tax bill for the average single-family home will rise about $114.
Commercial, industrial and personal propert will rise from $34.54 to $36.07, up a $1.53 per $1,000.
Property taxes will account for about $15 million of the city's $37.7 million budget for fiscal 2015. A single tax rate would be $21.09 per $1,000.
Mayor Richard Alcombright recommended keeping the current CIP shift at 1.71 toward the commercial side as approved by the council several years ago. The shift lowers the obligations of residential property owners to 61 percent of the levy.
"The council voted to reduce the shift because there was a fair amount of growth in the commercial," he said. "We have very high commercial rates ... it makes it very difficult for businesses."
A business looking to open in the area could find similarly price locations in North Adams or Adams, but would pay a much lower tax rate of $25.37 in Adams.
"The drop was to help soften the commercial and doesn't have a signficant effect on the residential," the mayor said.
Raising the shift up to the maximum 1.75 would mean about $30 on the average residential tax bill.
Several residents urged the council to reinstate the higher differential.
"It's time to go back up the ladder," said resident Mark Trottier. "That $30 a year doesn't seem like much, but it does to some people."
Councilor Jennifer Breen, the lone vote against the 1.71 shift, accused the mayor of favoritism toward business. She also didn't think lowering the differential had helped attract business and criticized the incremental tax package provided to Crane & Co.
She had voted against initially lowering the shift in 2012 but for the Crane tax incentive.
"My real concern is that the burden seems heavily on our constituents who are homeowners," she said.
Alcombright objected, saying he was concerned with the tax effect on both residential and commercial.
The city had lost a significant amount of state funding over the past four or five cycles, he said. Aid has dropped from $21.1 million to $18.3 million, and now makes up 44 percent of the budget, down from 56.
"That's an incredible number if you think of it," the mayor said. "Our gross budget is smaller today than it was in 2008. ...
"We hear things about spending and control and that's all we've done."
Councilor Keith Bona noted most businesses in the city are small or family owned, and raising the tax rate would affect them, not just the few big chains.
Councilor Joshua Moran said the split was "somewhat of a symbolic gesture" to businesses that had stayed in North Adams.
"If you want to cut, cut, cut, our community will continue to go downhill, it will not bring in new businesses, and more people will leave this area to find jobs elsewhere."
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The average single-family home assessed at $136,200 will have a tax bill of $2,278 for fiscal 2015.
Breen said she would vote against the split, but added she thought the city should explore payments in lieu of taxes from some nonprofits, particularly Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.
"That would make me feel more comfortable with the tax rates you propose," she said.
Councilor Wayne Wilkinson agreed with Breen PILOT funds, saying the District Court and Social Security office pay a high amount in rent to the museum.
"But we cannot bill them because they're tax exempt," he said. "It's a discussion for another time but I think it's time to have that discussion."
Council President Lisa Blackmer several times had to gavel citizen speakers veered off-topic from shift in attempts to debate the mayor and tried to keep councilors on topic as well.
Councilor Nancy Bullett took issue with Breen's use of her Finance Committee report to grill Alcombright.
"This was quite a bit of discussion," said an upset Bullett, acknowledging it may not have been exact. "This was an overview of that meeting."
In other business, the council:
• Withdrew an application for a home rule petition for Steeple City Spirits at the mayor's request as the business has acquired a liquor license from an existing business.
• Approved a power-purchase agreement with Borrego Solar Systems for credits on two solar arrays outside the city. The credits are expected to offset about $80,000 in annual electrical costs over the next 20 years.
In combination with the solar array Borrego is installing on the landfill, the projects are expected to cover energy costs to all the city's public buildings.
• Heard a presentation by Williams College students Molly Prindle, Caroline Bruno and Tom Murphy on ways to improve access to local trails at the invitation of Bullett.
Tags: fiscal 2015, property taxes, tax classification,
