Reading Establishes 2017 Property Tax Rate

From the Town of Reading

At their public hearing on November 15th, the Reading Board of Selectmen held the annual Tax Classification hearing as required by law to establish the fiscal year 2017 tax rate. The Board of Assessors presented materials to assist the Selectmen in making their determination.

The options available for consideration were the selection of a Minimum Residential Factor which determines whether the tax rate would be split, selection of a discount for open space, and consideration of both a residential exemption and/or a small commercial exemption.

Since there are no properties that meet the classification definition of open space, that discount was rejected as it has been in years past. Also rejected was a residential exemption for owner occupied properties since Reading is largely an owner occupied community and a small commercial exemption because of the difficulty in identifying properties that meet the narrow confines of the exemption.

Most importantly, the Board of Selectmen did adopt a Minimum Residential Factor of 1 which means that Reading will, once again, have a single tax rate. The tax rate for all classes of properties will be $14.03 per thousand of value. This represents a reduction of $0.47 from last year’s rate of $14.50.

The average single family for FY 2017 is $533,537 which represents about a 6.8% increase in assessed value over last year. When applied to the new tax rate, the estimated average single family tax bill will be $7,485 or 3.26% over last year. Commercial property valuations increased about 4.68% to $1,563,000 from last year and the average tax bill increased about 1.25% to $21,923.

The Fiscal Year 2017 tax bills will be mailed before the end of December. For those taxpayers wishing to pay before the end of the year, feel free to contact the Office of the Tax Collector at 781-942-9023 later in December for details.

Statutory Exemptions are available to those individuals that meet certain criteria. Persons that may qualify for an exemption include service-connected disabled veterans, blind persons, surviving spouses and seniors. Information and applications for exemptions can be obtained at our office or online at: www.readingma.gov/assessor/pages/exemptions

Finally, the Reading Senior Tax Relief Home Rule Petition is making it’s through the state legislature. To date the feedback is positive. If approved by the state, our office expects to have an application period during August of 2017 for seniors who received the Senior Circuit Breaker Income Tax Credit and who have owned and occupied a home in Reading for the past 10 years. We will endeavor to keep you apprised of the petition’s progress, application timeframe and any other requirements.

Photo of Reading home submitted