By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD — For the first time in several years, the property tax rate will not be increasing by the full 2.5 percent allowed under Proposition 2½, but the difference is slight. The increase approved by the Town Council last night was 2.38 percent.
Director of Assessments Victor Santaniello appeared before the Town Council last night for the annual tax classification hearing. As it has historically done, the Town Council voted for a classification plan that affords residential properties the lowest possible share of the tax burden.
Under that scenario, the residential property tax rate for Fiscal Year 2024 will be $11.26 per $1,000 of valuation. The commercial/industrial tax rate will be $21.72.
This means that the average residential home valued at $756,500 will be assessed $8,518 in property taxes this year. That reflects a savings of about $900 compared to using a single tax rate for residential and commercial properties.
But because the value of the average single-family home increased from last year’s $701,100 to $756,500, the owner of the average single-family property will still be paying $294 more in property taxes in FY 2024, an increase of 3.5 percent over last year.
The median commercial property value in town is $593,500 and the estimated median commercial property tax bill for FY 2024 is $12,886.
Santaniello noted that FY 2024 is the tenth year of the full Debt Exclusion for the Galvin Middle School. The Debt Exclusion adds $2,720,005 to the town’s FY 2024 total tax levy. In FY 2024, it adds $0.31 to the residential tax rate or $234 to the average single family home’s tax bill, and $0.59 to the commercial/industrial tax rate or $879 to the average commercial tax bill.
Santaniello explained that the residential tax rate factors in the senior citizen discount, which has been offered for the last three years. He noted that 265 seniors applied for this exemption and 243 of those applications were deemed eligible and were approved. The average discount received was $1,050, and the combined total came to $261,369.
Santaniello said that providing this discount to eligible seniors adds 4 cents to the residential tax rate, or $30.24 to the average single family tax bill.
The Town Council last night voted against offering an “open space discount” because, as Santaniello explained, the town has no properties that meet the criteria.
They also voted against offering a residential exemption, which has only been adopted in a handful of communities including Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea and Brookline. Santaniello explained that the residential tax rate would rise substantially before any discount, and approximately 30 percent of homes would shoulder the burden.
The Town Council also voted against offering a small commercial exemption as the Assessing Department is unaware of any business meeting the requirements to qualify.
Santaniello noted that, except for Saugus (which has the Route 1 business district), residential properties in Wakefield and Stoneham realize the lowest possible share of the tax burden by employing the maximum possible shift.
No one from the public offered any testimony at last night’s tax classification hearing.