By NEIL ZOLOT
MELROSE — The average homeowner’s property taxes will go up about $225 in the year ahead.
At a meeting Monday, the City Council approved the annual classification shift determining the tax levy burden borne by residential property owners and those who own commercial and industrial properties.
The residential rate will be $10.42 per $1,000 of property value, reflecting a factor of .964174 in the tax split with Commercial, Industrial and Personal Property (CIP) classes. That makes the average residential bill $7,660, an increase of $225 or 3.03%.
That will leave the Commercial, Industrial and Personal Property rate at $18.13, making the average CIP bill $10,608, an increase of $542 or 5.38%.
The split last year was .9666, .9661 in 2021 and .9690 in 2020. While these splits may seem miniscule Chief Assessor Sarah MacLellan feels, “Even a small amount is a large change.”
Last year’s split would have put the average residential bill at $7,682 and the CIP bill at $10,292. A split factor of 1 or an even split between residential and CIP would have a residential rate of $10.81, which includes the Senior Citizens Property Tax Exemption or Circuit Breaker of $.02, and a CIP rate of $10.79. An even split would have increased the residential rate $512 or 6.88% and decreased the CIP rate $3,753 or 37.28%. Circuit Breaker discounts are added to residential rates.
Councilor Robb Stewart cast the lone vote against the .964174 split based on the burden it will put on businesses after their losses during the pandemic. He suggested a split of .965228, which would have set the residential rate at $10.43 with an average tax bill of $7,667 and the CIP rate at $17.91 with an average tax bill of $10,479.
In discussion, Grigoraitis said residents have been suffering through job loss and high inflation.
Melrose’s tax base is 95% residential, valued at $6,513,661,496, with 2.7% ($183,546,364) commercial, 2% ($137,891,480) in personal property, defined as items not firmly attached to buildings or land, primarily business merchandise and office equipment and .3% ($21,730,900) industrial.
MacLellen reported personal property values went up due to work on utilities in the city. The grand total of everything is $6,856,830,240.