WESTFIELD – The City Council voted last night to conduct a special meeting next Tuesday to discuss and vote to set a residential shift, which is used to determine the tax rates for the different class of property in the city.
City Assessor Robin Johnson presented the status of the value of property in the city and the total value that is part of the formula to set a new tax rate. Johnson said the total value of all property increased by $902,622, from $3,072,169,049 in 2015 to $3,073,071,671 in 2016.
Johnson said the residential property, which comprises 83.8 percent of the total property value, increased in value by $20 million, while Commercial, Industrial and Personal (CIP) property values, which comprise 16.2 of the total value, dropped by $23.9 million.
The average residential property value increased from $224,600 in 2015 to $226,900 in 2016, an increase of $2,300 on average. The average residential tax bill for 20015, based upon that $224,600 assessment, and taxed at a rate of $18.54 per $1,000 of value, was $4,164.
The average CUIP property was appraised at $535,300 in 2015, but dropped to $522,400 in 2016, an average decrease in value of $12,900. The average CIP tax bill in 2015, based upon that appraisal of an average value of $535,300 and a CIP tax rate of 34.69 percent was $18,559.
Johnson said that new growth added $1,135,209 to the total value of property in the city. Typically the new growth number used to set the fiscal year budget is about $800,000, which results in a delta of about $300,000 more than the projected budget number, money which is used to reduce the tax levy.
Johnson said the increase in residential property is the result of new house construction (17 new homes were added to the tax base), as well as additions, finished basements, new outbuilding and other modifications, which increased the assessed value of residential property.
The decrease in CIP property value is primarily due to depreciation, especially in personal property which dropped 30 percent. Johnson said that depreciation is calculated on a three-year cycle, with 2016 being the third year of that cycle.
The City Council, for the past five years, has voted to adopt a residential shift of 1.63, which has increased the tax rate for both the residential and CIP property classifications.
Acting Mayor and City Council President Brian Sullivan, who will formally take the corner office in January, had proposed using $330,000 of the free cash certified by the Department of Revenue (DOR) earlier this week to buffer the increase in the 2016 fiscal year tax rate.
Sullivan, prior to the City Council session last night, said that he was receiving feedback from council members that a higher amount of free cash should be used to increase that buffer.
At-large Councilor David A. Flaherty made a motion requesting Sullivan, in his capacity as acting Mayor, increase the free cash commitment to $660,000, a number that Sullivan was considering due to that councilor feedback.
“The City Council can cut the appropriation request, but it can’t add to it,” Flaherty said. “Make it the $660,000 figure, and then we can cut it. Finance Chairman (Christopher) Keefe has a number in mind, so we’d save time going back and forth.”
Sullivan set the special meeting to allow discussion, and possibly adoption, of a shift factor Tuesday to allow the city’s financial team time to calculate tax bills and send them out before the end of this calendar year.
“The drop dead date to have the tax bills printed is December 18, so they can be mailed before the end of the year,” Sullivan said. “Our next regular meeting is Dec. 17, which doesn’t give sufficient time to calculate the tax bills and mail them out.’
Sullivan said earlier Thursday that he does not want to have a situation, like last year, when the bills were not prepared in time to include liens on property and motor vehicle excise taxes.
