Selectmen Discuss Tax Classification Options

At the final meeting before Special Town Meeting next week, the Board of Selectmen held part one of a two part annual public hearing to determine whether there would be a change in the tax classification for Wellesley last night.

The bulk of the meeting involved a Board of Assessors presentation on the tax rates for home and commercial property owners in Wellesley for the upcoming fiscal year.  Currently, Wellesley operates under a single tax rate, meaning everyone in Wellesley pays the same tax regardless of whether they own residential or commercial property. This hearing, which occurs annually just before the new year, exists to determine whether the town should split the tax, which would involve a major bump in tax for commercial property owners and a decrease in tax for homeowners.

The tax, if split, would initiate an increase of about $10,000 per year per commercial property owner, according to the Board of Assessors presentation, while homeowners would see a decrease of $593 per year.

Katherine "Gig" Babson, chair of the Board of Selectmen, said the average tax bill for a residential homeowner is about $9,000, but the average tax bill for a commercial property owner is $20,700.

"It's a very significant increase in our commercial properties in order to provide relief to our residential taxpayers," she said.

About 88 percent of Wellesley's property is residential, and the other 12 percent is commercial, according to the Board of Assessors.

Donna McCabe, Wellesley chief assessor, said towns with as low of a percentage of commercial property as Wellesley typically have a single tax rate, noting that only about 37 percent of towns with between 10 and 20 percent commercial properties locally have a split tax rate.

"It's not until they go up to 20-plus percent commercial where you see more towns splitting the tax rate," McCabe said, noting that the decision to split the tax is not advisable for Wellesley.

She added that some towns, like Hanover, which has a large shopping mall, split the tax rate because of the one large commercial entity despite having a low percentage of commercial coverage in the town.

Most of Wellesley's commercial property is office space, according to Selectmen Ellen Gibbs.

David Livingston, chair of the Board of Assessors, said the tax rate would go up for fiscal year 2011 by 9 percent compared to fiscal year 2010 from $10.48 to $11.43 per $1,000 tax bill in Wellesley.

The Board of Selectmen will vote on whether to split the tax rate at a continuation of the hearing Dec. 8.

Other meeting notes:

-The Board of Selectmen rescinded the motion to install a crosswalk on Abbott Road near Windsor and Livermore streets "based solely on process issues and not on the merits" of the proposal, according to Babson. The crosswalk was proposed to deter speeders on the wide but residential Abbott Road. Several Abbott Road residents the proposed crosswalk at a Nov. 22 meeting of the Board of Selectmen, where the proposal was eventually passed unanimously. The Board of Selectmen received several e-mails from residents upset with the Board's decision to install the crosswalk during the week following the Nov. 22 meeting, according to Babson.

-Deputy Director Christopher Ketchen gave a presentation on the capital budget plans for Wellesley through fiscal year 2015. The plans included a new roof at Town Hall, a revamped parking lot configuration, and new flooring and HVAC repair at several town buildings.