Framingham Selectmen Set Business-Friendly Tax Rate

Looking to help small business owners and commercial property owners, Framingham Selectmen unanimously set a Fiscal Year 2015 tax rate Tuesday night that is not the maximum split allowed under the law.

The new rate should also be favorable to homeowners, as the average home owner should only see a $30 increase next year.

Framingham Selectmen had set a goal of not increase single family homeowners tax bills but more than $100.

Selectmen set that goal after homeowners were shocked to see a more than 11 percent increase in their tax bills in fiscal year 2012, after commercial property values dropped.

Business will still pay a higher rate in town. The new business tax rate will be $39, per $1,000 of assessed value.

Homeowners will see a rate of $17.82 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Last month, Selectmen had seen a presentation that would have the average single family tax bill increasing by $58. The rate approved last night reduces that estimate to $30.

Selectmen could have taxed commercial property owners at 1.75 times the rate of homeowners in fiscal year 2015, but chose instead to set the split tax rate at 1.71 times the rate.

Selectman Jason Smith said over the last 5-7 years, Framingham has lost some major businesses.

This rate says “Framingham is open for business.”

Jason said he would vote for the 1.71 rate as it was an “investment in retaining business.”

Selectman Cheryl Tully Stoll said Framingham needs to attract and retain new buisnesses to take some of the tax burden off homeowners. She said the 1.71 rate, helps to do that.

Selectman Laurie Lee said setting the rate at the Town Manager recommendation of 1.71 would be beneficial to all “taxpayers.”

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue recently approved the town’s triennial property valuations. Homeowner’s properties were assessed based on Jan. 1, 2014 for fiscal year 2015.

In 2014, the average single family homeowner had a tax bill of $5,922. The Town considers a single family home assessed at $334,032 as the average.

In 2015, that same homeowner would see a tax bill total of $5,952 or 0.5 percent increase.

A decade ago, in 2005, that same homeowner paid a tax bill of $4,129.

In fiscal year 2015, overall residential property values increased by 4.48 percent. Residential property values represent almost 77 percent of the town. There are 13,394 single family homes in Framingham.

Commercial property values increased 8.3 percent in FY15. Industrial values increased by 9.4 percent.

In developing a tax rate, the town has to establish property values. Next, based on budgets approved by Town Meeting, a tax rate for all property classes is established.

Selectmen have held steady on their goal not to increase spending by the maximum allowed under the law of 2.5 percent each year, instead targeting and hitting a goal of 1.25 percent.

If there was no split tax rate in Framingham, all property owners would be paying $22.81 per $1,000 of assessed value in FY15.