Danvers Tax Rate To Rise More Than 3 Percent Next Year

DANVERS, MA — The owner of an average single-family home in Danvers will see a property tax increase of about $200 next year per the 2022-23 classification that the Select Board approved on Tuesday night.

"There was a day when there wouldn't be an empty seat in this room for the tax classification," Danvers Select Board Chair Daniel Bennett said in front of Tuesday night's sparse gathering.

The stated goal of the classifications was to spread the increase out as equally among residential and commercial property owners. The result of that deliberation was a 1.4750 ratio split between residential and commercial rates, which will result in a 3.15 percent increase for residential customers and a 3.31 percent increase for commercial customers.

"We're looking at an increase that would seem to me to be as fair as possible," Bennett said, "which is hard to do.

"As values have gone up, and keep going up, we keep pushing the 1.5 (ratio) limit," Bennett said. "We're not there yet, and maybe not next year. But at some point in time, we are going to be looking at that number."

Communities have the option of taxing personal and commercial properties at the same rate (1:1) but most opt to charge commercial properties at a higher rate in the quest to keep homeowner property taxes as low as possible, while still being able to run the town government and fund municipal services.

Danvers has set its ratio imbalance limit at 1.5:1 but has the option to increase that if it chooses. Bennett noted that other communities have gone to 1.75:1. However, there is a concern among many cities and towns that going too far in having commercial properties take on an uneven tax burden makes them unattractive to new businesses that would contribute to that tax base.

Based on current assessments, not all property owners will experience the same increases next year, with condo owners actually seeing a decrease in taxes based on the relative rising assessments during the most recent housing boom.

The Select Board's figures said that the average single-family home — assessed in Danvers at $605,754 — will see an increase of $185 next year. The average two-family homeowner, whose assessed values have increased more rapidly over the last year, will see a tax increase of $544.

The average condo owner, though, will see a decrease of about $33.

The Select Board said the average single-family home increased in value 10 percent last year, while two-family homes went up 16 percent and three-family homes went up 17 percent.

Multi-family homes and condos make up a much smaller percentage of Danvers residences than single-family homes.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)