City Property Tax Rates Inch Higher for Shrewsbury

The Board of Aldermen inched up the property tax rate for city residents this year as total property values in Shrewsbury dropped to their lowest levels in at least 16 years.

Shrewsbury Finance Director Danielle Oettle said rates moved up by 1.6 cents from 2010 levels to about 9.6 cents per $100 of assessed valuation for residential property, 9.54 cents for commercial property and $1.05 for personal property.

Property is assessed at 19 percent of its appraised value, so a $200,000 home would have a tax bill of $364. Money generated from these levies contributes to the city’s general fund and toward paying down its debt obligations. State law requires that general fund rates are formulated to create roughly the same amount of revenue as the previous year.

Despite declining property values, the rise in rates is actually on the debt service side of the tax levy. Oettle said this is due to a minor increase in the city’s scheduled debt payments, which stem from two General Obligation bonds passed by voters as ballot propositions. The increase brings the debt service rate to 4.73 cents and is expected to bring in $569,000.  

The other side of the equation is the city’s general fund, and it stayed steady at 4.86 cents. With total property values in Shrewsbury dropping by about $3 million, Oettle estimated that the tax rate will generate $555,000 this year compared to $570,000 in 2010.