Property taxes must raise $56.9 million to cover municipal expenses.
WESTFIELD – The City Council will meet in special session Tuesday night to determine property tax classification and set the city’s fiscal 2011 property tax rate for residential and business properties.
Residential property owners currently pay $14.69 per $1,000 property valuation while commercial and industry pays $28.62 per $1,000.
Tax tables presented to the council last week indicate that keeping the present formula will increase the residential rate to $15.37 and businesses will increase to $30.31.
The business community has already appealed for a reduction in the classification shift to lessen their tax bills.
Chamber of Commerce Director Lynn F. Boscher has suggested a change that, if approved, will increase residential tax bills to $15.71 and business and industry to $28.70 per $100,000 valuation.
Boscher said more than 80 percent of all businesses in the state are considered micro and small businesses. “If you want these businesses to grow and expand, the taxes they pay must be reduced,” says Boscher.
The director said business owners “have reached the limit in the amount they can afford to pay in real property taxes. They have experienced a great deal of hardship during difficult economic times that have escalated costs, decreased sales and eroded profits.”
City officials are awaiting state Department of Revenue certification of available surplus revenue that can be applied to the city fiscal 2011 tax rate. That free cash is expected to be certified at around $3 million, Mayor Daniel M. Knapik has said.
Property taxes must finance the city’s total tax levy of $56.9 million.
The current average residential property valuation is about $231,000 with an estimated tax bill of $3,390. A new residential tax rate of $15.37 will increase to the tax bill to about $3,550.