| Author |
 Topic  |
|
whatsup
Member
33 Posts |
Posted - 01/02/2008 : 12:06:30 PM
|
| I just called the assessors office and I did get the exemption. I received $76,565 off the value of the building. I agree it's confusing because they don't actually show you the exemption line. But my total value is 408,500 but my tax is based on 331,995 which translates to a tax bill of 3435.00. My bill did go up but I'm not sure by how much because I don't have a copy of the last bill to compare it too. And ever since they have us pay 4 times, my mortgage has suffered. There now is not enough in there and my mortgage is going from 1855 to 1989 starting feb 1. |
 |
|
|
tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 01/02/2008 : 1:02:54 PM
|
Citizen,
As whatsup pointed out, the 20% exemption shows up as a decrease in the valuation, not as a separate line item. I am pretty sure that this was done the same way the last time that the exemption was given.
Massdee,
I'm not sure what the breakeven point is this year. I believe that a number might have thrown out during the approval process for the exemption but I not sure that it would have been 100% accurate. If we had what the tax rate rate would have been if the exemption was not in place, we could figure it out; but, of course, we don't have that either. |
Edited by - tetris on 01/02/2008 1:16:33 PM |
|
|
|
Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 01/02/2008 : 1:37:36 PM
|
I'll have to pull out my last bill. I haven't had a chance to do that yet. If my valuation reflects a 20% reduction . . . well, let's just say I'd find it hard to believe that my house could possibly be valued at 20% more than what this bill reflects.
|
|
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 01/02/2008 : 2:24:15 PM
|
Citizen,
I just went into the cities web site and checked my old assessment and it appears I received the 20%, too. Even with the 20%, there is a $513. increase in the house I live in, and over a thousand dollar increase in the house I rent out. |
Edited by - massdee on 01/02/2008 2:29:42 PM |
|
|
|
Citizen Kane
Advanced Member
1082 Posts |
Posted - 01/02/2008 : 3:00:55 PM
|
Unbelievable, isn't it, massdee. I'm really sorry about the hit you took.
Weren't they supposed to apply some of that magical $11 million of free cash against the tax rate? Does anyone know if they did that?
|
|
|
|
charm
Senior Member
264 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 06:54:34 AM
|
YOUR TOWN
In a different category
By Matthew Carroll, Globe Staff | January 3, 2008
Percentage of property value that is tax-exempt.
Municipality Percent
State median 7.9
Abington 6.2
Acton 5.8
Acushnet 4.6
Adams 11.2
Agawam 10.4
Alford 1.2
Amesbury 8.1
Amherst 16.5
Andover 8.4
Aquinnah 8.6
Arlington 5.1
Ashburnham 11.4
Ashby 6.8
Ashfield 6.6
Ashland 4.3
Athol 8.3
Attleboro 6.7
Auburn 5.6
Avon 5.3
Ayer 9.3
Barnstable 9.6
Barre 13.9
Becket 6.1
Bedford 13.5
Belchertown 9.3
Bellingham 4.8
Belmont 10.5
Berkley 6.2
Berlin 6.5
Bernardston 9.0
Beverly 10.2
Billerica 5.6
Blackstone 6.5
Blandford 15.9
Bolton 4.5
Boston 24.1
Bourne 16.5
Boxborough 3.6
Boxford 6.3
Boylston 11.0
Braintree 6.7
Brewster 8.4
Bridgewater 12.4
Brimfield 7.4
Brockton 13.3
Brookfield 11.4
Brookline 8.4
Buckland 10.8
Burlington 10.1
Cambridge 25.7
Canton 7.7
Carlisle 5.1
Carver 5.7
Charlemont 12.1
Charlton 14.7
Chatham 6.0
Chelmsford 5.0
Chelsea 23.2
Cheshire 14.5
Chester 10.3
Chesterfield 10.0
Chicopee 13.4
Chilmark 5.2
Clarksburg 8.9
Clinton 11.0
Cohasset 6.1
Colrain 7.0
Concord 13.2
Conway 6.0
Cummington 15.1
Dalton 10.8
Danvers 12.6
Dartmouth 9.2
Dedham 7.2
Deerfield 19.2
Dennis 2.5
Dighton 9.2
Douglas 8.0
Dover 11.7
Dracut 5.2
Dudley 7.2
Dunstable 4.8
Duxbury 10.7
East Bridgewater 6.4
East Brookfield 6.3
East Longmeadow 7.2
Eastham 6.0
Easthampton 9.7
Easton 7.6
Edgartown 8.1
Egremont 11.2
Erving 4.5
Essex 6.0
Everett 11.1
Fairhaven 7.8
Fall River 13.1
Falmouth 8.3
Fitchburg 19.7
Florida 4.3
Foxborough 16.9
Framingham 11.9
Franklin 5.9
Freetown 6.5
Gardner 13.9
Georgetown 6.6
Gill 33.1
Gloucester 6.9
Goshen 5.9
Gosnold 6.9
Grafton 6.7
Granby 4.6
Granville 21.4
Great Barrington 16.3
Greenfield 11.4
Groton 13.3
Groveland 6.9
Hadley 10.0
Halifax 4.8
Hamilton 10.8
Hampden 4.4
Hancock 2.7
Hanover 6.9
Hanson 8.2
Hardwick 15.0
Harvard 10.1
Harwich 6.2
Hatfield 6.8
Haverhill 7.0
Hawley 11.6
Heath 7.3
Hingham 5.7
Hinsdale 12.0
Holbrook 4.2
Holden 10.1
Holland 4.7
Holliston 11.4
Holyoke 14.2
Hopedale 8.2
Hopkinton 6.6
Hubbardston 9.0
Hudson 6.5
Hull 10.4
Huntington 42.2
Ipswich 8.9
Kingston 10.4
Lakeville 8.6
Lancaster 20.6
Lanesborough 2.5
Lawrence 11.7
Lee 10.6
Leicester 7.5
Lenox 14.6
Leominster 9.9
Leverett 7.6
Lexington 7.0
Leyden 7.3
Lincoln 21.9
Littleton 7.8
Longmeadow 6.1
Lowell 15.7
Ludlow 5.0
Lunenburg 4.7
Lynn 8.7
Lynnfield 5.9
Malden 8.7
Manchester 6.6
Mansfield 4.9
Marblehead 5.7
Marion 8.8
Marlborough 6.5
Marshfield 5.1
Mashpee 8.7
Mattapoisett 7.1
Maynard 14.4
Medfield 9.2
Medford 6.9
Medway 6.2
Melrose 7.9
Mendon 3.9
Merrimac 5.0
Methuen 5.9
Middleborough 8.0
Middlefield 12.8
Middleton 8.6
Milford 5.4
Millbury 8.0
Millis 4.7
Millville 5.3
Milton 10.1
Monroe 12.4
Monson 13.0
Montague 14.0
Monterey 9.8
Montgomery 4.7
Mount Washington 33.0
Nahant 8.4
Nantucket 19.8
Natick 7.2
Needham 6.6
New Ashford 8.1
New Bedford 14.3
New Braintree 17.4
New Marlborough 3.9
New Salem 21.1
Newbury 11.5
Newburyport 7.7
Newton 9.8
Norfolk 5.8
North Adams 21.1
North Andover 7.6
North Attleborough 5.0
North Brookfield 10.7
North Reading 7.1
Northampton 20.4
Northborough 5.0
Northbridge 5.3
Northfield 18.5
Norton 13.2
Norwell 6.6
Norwood 4.4
Oak Bluffs 7.8
Oakham 6.7
Orange 9.7
Orleans 7.7
Otis 5.7
Oxford 6.6
Palmer 10.5
Paxton 9.6
Peabody 8.9
Pelham 9.7
Pembroke 6.5
Pepperell 5.5
Peru 13.1
Petersham 26.2
Phillipston 5.9
Pittsfield 15.4
Plainfield 9.7
Plainville 5.1
Plymouth 7.4
Plympton 3.9
Princeton 8.4
Provincetown 9.7
Quincy 14.6
Randolph 6.4
Raynham 4.5
Reading 5.8
Rehoboth 3.3
Revere 5.5
Richmond 6.3
Rochester 9.2
Rockland 7.0
Rockport 6.3
Rowe 2.8
Rowley 4.2
Royalston 14.4
Russell 7.2
Rutland 13.1
Salem 8.8
Salisbury 6.6
Sandisfield 5.0
Sandwich 10.9
Saugus 5.7
Savoy 14.7
Scituate 5.4
Seekonk 4.5
Sharon 8.2
Sheffield 19.2
Shelburne 10.1
Sherborn 7.0
Shirley 15.0
Shrewsbury 8.5
Shutesbury 7.0
Somerset 6.6
Somerville 10.5
South Hadley 9.9
Southampton 5.1
Southborough 8.8
Southbridge 12.8
Southwick 5.8
Spencer 8.0
Springfield 18.4
Sterling 10.3
Stockbridge 11.7
Stoneham 7.8
Stoughton 6.2
Stow 6.4
Sturbridge 8.3
Sudbury 5.5
Sunderland 9.1
Sutton 4.7
Swampscott 6.1
Swansea 4.9
Taunton 9.9
Templeton 9.0
Tewksbury 4.6
Tisbury 6.3
Tolland 10.0
Topsfield 5.3
Townsend 11.5
Truro 6.2
Tyngsborough 8.6
Tyringham 12.1
Upton 9.3
Uxbridge 5.1
Wakefield 8.2
Wales 11.2
Walpole 7.5
Waltham 15.5
Ware 10.0
Wareham 5.6
Warren 8.1
Warwick 18.0
Washington 23.3
Watertown 6.4
Wayland 7.5
Webster 5.4
Wellesley 9.7
Wellfleet 6.8
Wendell 20.6
Wenham 6.4
West Boylston 12.9
West Bridgewater 6.8
West Brookfield 9.1
West Newbury 7.2
West Springfield 7.3
West Stockbridge 2.5
West Tisbury 14.5
Westborough 7.3
Westfield 8.4
Westford 6.0
Westhampton 7.9
Westminster 8.5
Weston 16.5
Westport 8.7
Westwood 4.3
Weymouth 7.4
Whately 6.1
Whitman 4.8
Wilbraham 7.4
Williamsburg 6.9
Williamstown 29.8
Wilmington 5.7
Winchendon 14.1
Winchester 4.7
Windsor 14.4
Winthrop 7.9
Woburn 7.2
Worcester 18.1
Worthington 8.3
Wrentham 7.8
Yarmouth 5.7
SOURCE: State Department of Revenue
Your Town statistics appear weekly. Comments or ideas: mcarroll@globe.com
|
|
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 09:52:32 AM
|
Citizen, I think they did apply some money. If I remember correctly, the tax rate was reduced by $2.00 a thousand. I could be wrong, though. You never know with this crew.
Tetris, do you know if they actually applied the money towards the taxes? |
|
|
|
tetris
Moderator
2040 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 10:14:41 AM
|
Believe it or not, $4 million of free cash was supposed to be applied to the tax levy. Mr Keverian stated at the time that it would be worth about a $1 on the tax rate. Here's a link to the thread in which we were discussing this transfer:
You must be logged in to see this link.
Whether or not it was actually applied, I'm not sure...the taxy levy amount of $68 million dollars sounds familiar but I can't remember if it was the number before or after the $4 million was applied.
Thank God for this board...more and more when I'm looking for information about what's gone on in this city in the past, I can
find more information here than I can anywhere else. |
Edited by - tetris on 01/03/2008 10:20:12 AM |
|
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 10:27:17 AM
|
| Thanks, Tetris. I just went back and reread that thread and it did refresh my memory. Imagine our tax bills if they didn't apply that 4 million. I think I should have sold my house when the prices were up. |
|
|
|
Tails
Administrator
2682 Posts |
 Posted - 01/03/2008 : 11:24:04 AM
|
I was under the impression that you could not increase taxes any more than 2 1/2 percent being so close to Proposition 2 1/2 . I thought that was what proposition 2 1/2 was there for.
|
|
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 11:28:52 AM
|
About Proposition 2 1/2
In Massachusetts, municipal revenues to support local spending for schools, public safety, and other public services are raised through the property tax levy, state aid, local receipts, and other sources. The property tax levy is the largest source of revenue for most cities and towns.
Proposition 2 1/2 limits the amount of revenue a city or town may raise, or levy, from local property taxes each year to fund municipal operations. Proposition 2 1/2 was approved by Massachusetts voters in 1980, and first implemented in fiscal year 1982. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 59, Section 21C.
Proposition 2 1/2 places two constraints on the amount of property taxes a city or town can levy:
1. A community cannot levy more than 2.5 percent of the total full cash value of all taxable property in the community (called the levy ceiling).
2. A community's allowable levy for a fiscal year (called the levy limit) cannot increase by more than 2.5 percent of the maximum allowable limit for the prior year, plus certain allowable increases such as new growth from property added to the tax rolls.
Proposition 2 1/2 establishes two types of voter approved increases in taxing authority:
Overrides: A levy limit override increases the amount of property tax revenue a community may raise in the year specified in the override question and in future years. The result is a permanent increase in taxing authority. The purpose of the override is to provide funding for municipal expenses likely to recur or continue into the future, such as annual operating and fixed costs.
Exclusions: An exclusion increases the amount of property tax revenue a community may raise for a limited or temporary period of time in order to fund specific projects. It does not increase the community's levy limit nor become part of the base for calculating future years' levy limits. The exclusion may be used to raise additional funds only for capital purposes, such as public building, public works projects, land and equipment acquisitions.
Proposition 2 1/2 also allows voters to mandate a reduction in taxing authority:
Underrides: A levy limit underride decreases the amount of property tax revenue a community may raise in the year specified in the underride question and in future years. The result is a permanent decrease in taxing authority.
(Source: Division of Local Services)
|
|
|
|
massdee
Moderator
5299 Posts |
Posted - 01/03/2008 : 12:08:20 PM
|
| So, how do we go about getting an "underride" for the city of Everett? Fat chance. LOL |
|
|
|
Topic |
|
How Bad Was Your Tax Bill?
