Pittsfield Tax Rate May Drop But Bills RiseBy Brittany Polito, iBerkshires Staff
05:12AM / Friday, November 08, 2024 | |
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Mayor Peter Marchetti has proposed a decrease in the city's tax rate but because of rising property values, the average homeowner will see an annual increase of more than $350.
There will be a tax classification hearing during Tuesday's City Council meeting, which begins at 6 p.m.
For fiscal year 2025, the first-year mayor has put forward a residential tax rate of $17.94 per $1,000 of valuation and a commercial, industrial and personal property tax rate of $37.96 per $1,000 of valuation.
The rates use a residential factor of 0.827103 at a shift of 1.75 to the commercial side.
The $114,615,097 levy limit for fiscal 2025 includes $2,726,686 in new growth, a 4.72 percent increase from the previous year. Pittsfield's real and personal property valuation is $5,270,539,121.
In one year, the average residential property value has increased by $27,377, the median residential property by $22,850, and the median commercial property by $12,750.
The proposed residential rate is 51 cents lower than FY24 and the proposed commercial rate decreased by $1.65. In FY25, the average single-family home is valued at $295,291 for a tax bill of $5,297.52 annually, compared to the average FY24 home valued at $267,914, which paid $4,943.01.
The 7.17 percent increase would shake up to about $30 additional dollars per month for homeowners. The bill hike is less than FY24, which raised annual taxes by $397.82 for the average homeowner.
The median city home valued at $256,500 would see an increase of about $290.77, paying $4,601.61 annually, and the median commercial property worth $224,250 would see an increase of $135.01 annually.
A single tax rate for FY25 would be $21.69, a 95-cent decrease from the previous year.
According to data provided by the administration, Pittsfield lost two single-family homes between FY24 and FY25. The city's 11,326 single-family homes are valued at about $3.3 billion, a $309 million or 10.2 percent increase.
Pittsfield's total residential value including multi-families and condominiums is $4,283,149,542, a $414,172,205 increase from the previous year.
Data shows that the city lost three commercial properties.
The city's 818 commercial properties worth $449,357,652 saw a 3.3 percent increase in value, the 260 industrial properties worth $154,460,407 saw a .8 percent increase in value, and the $1,820 personal properties worth $383,571,520 saw a 4.9 percent increase in value.
Last year, the tax classification was tabled because some councilors didn't want to vote before free cash was certified. The FY25 recapitulation sheet shows $2.5 million in free cash appropriated to reduce the tax rate.
The city expects to raise a total of $232,299,670.99, which includes property taxes and local receipts.
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