Politics & Government
Selectmen Set Single Tax Rate For FY 2014
To classify otherwise would be unfriendly to local businesses, selectmen said.
At their meeting Wednesday Selectmen left residential and commercial tax rates at a single level for Fiscal Year 2014.
Based on a rate of $11.09 per $1,000 of assessed value the owner of a single-family home with an average assessment would pay $268 more in FY 2014.
With an average single-family assessment of $663,650, the tax would be $7,360, a 3.8 percent increase over the $7,092 paid in FY 2013.
Earlier in the meeting, Selectmen received a report from John Kelley, the chairman of the Board of Assessors, and Michael Tumulty, assistant assessor.
By adopting a single factor Selectmen did not shift the tax burden from one taxpayer classification, residential, to another, the commercial taxpayers.
Selectman Jim Nye said it would be unfriendly to businesses to shift the burden.
Marblehead's commercial tax base represents only about 4.5 percent of the whole base while the residential portion accounts for the remaining 95.5 percent, he said.
Selectmen did not opt to grant the residential and small commercial exemptions before them, nor the open space discount.
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