Council Approves 4.3% Property Tax Hike For Braintree Residents

BRAINTREE, MA — Town Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a residential property tax rate of $10.09 per $1,000 of assessed value and a commercial/industrial rate of $22.20 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Both of those rates are down from last year's rates of $10.54 per $1,000 for residential and $23.37 per $1,000 for industrial/commercial properties. But most people will see an increase to their tax bill because of rising property values.

The average Braintree homeowner's tax rate will go up by 4.3 percent, or a little over $200 because of the average residential property assessment of $472,000, compared to $432,400 last year. Most commercial and industrial property owners will also see their tax bill increase. Braintree's deputy assessor, Bob Brinkmann, said commercial property values are up 8.4 percent and industrial values are up about 5.9 percent.

Mayor Joseph Sullivan told the Patriot Ledger that residential tax rates are the lowest they've been in nine years. He also said home values are higher in Braintree than most surrounding communities.

The residential rates could have been higher, Brinkmann told Patch. The town council kept residential rates lower because of additional revenue from new construction and property improvements, he said.

"Otherwise, these numbers would have looked a lot different," Brinkmann said.

The next step, according to Brinkmann is final approval from the state Department of Revenue.

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