Mattapoisett property taxes will increase by 2.1 percent this year, rising from $13.21 in fiscal year 2019 to $13.49 this 2020 fiscal year. Add in the Community Preservation Act tax of an additional 1 percent, and the assessed average value home will see a 2.4-percent overall increase, or an annual tax bill of $6.627.93.
As other Tri-Town towns have lowered their tax rates as a result of rising property values, Mattapoisett has seen only a minute increase in property value of just 0.38 percent.
Mattapoisett Principal Assessor Kathleen Costello told the Board of Selectmen on December 9 that the median home value assessment this year increased by just $1,854 to $491,322.
“There wasn’t a lot of big changes from last year to this year as far as values go,” said Costello. Next year, though, she said, “I think we’re going to start seeing our values climbing the way they used to be.”
But the slump, said Costello, is mainly due to a 5.24-percent decrease in the value of personal property with the loss of some small businesses and, the biggest hit: the nearly four-year vacancy of a large industrial building on Industrial Drive
“We’re starting to see some of the ramifications of that,” said Costello.
The town will continue with a single-rate tax, meaning commercial and residential property will be taxed at the same rate per $1,000 in value.
“We still don’t have the percentages of commercial (to make a split-rate tax viable),” Costello said. “It’s not going to save our residences and [a split-rate tax is] really going to hurt our small businesses.”
After a static fiscal year 2020, Costello said FY2021 will likely be worse with no new solar farms going online this fiscal year to inject growth into next the fiscal year, “Which is a big slug for us,” said Costello.
New constructions and additions are trending down, said Costello, and “Everything’s down with the new growth aspect. I’m very concerned about the number for next year.”
Town Administrator Michael Gagne concurred, stating that he would be adjusting the revenue projections for FY21 down as a result.
The two selectmen, however, maintained their optimism. While Selectman Paul Silva commented that he does not think the issue is necessarily an economic concern, Selectman Jordan Collyer recalled prior years of significant growth and said, “When everybody else was having bad years, we’ve had good years.” He also looked back at 2005 – a “sucky year,” as he put it, saying, “But we managed that.”
Gagne commented that there are other towns in the region with similar flat growth.
On the bright side, there are at least two additional solar farms in the pipeline, however, they have not yet finished the permitting process. Any revenue uptick from those solar farms will not be seen until fiscal year 2022.
The Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen is holding a meeting after press time on December 11 at 6:30 pm at the Mattapoisett Town Hall.
Mattapoisett Board of Selectmen
By Jean Perry