Peabody taxes remain among lowest in area

PEABODY-The City Council voted Tuesday night to “shift the burden” by adopting this year?s tax rate classification plan proposed by Mayor Michael Bonfanti. That means residents will experience a 1.5 percent increase in property taxes, the smallest Peabody has seen in over four years. Some residents, believe it or not, will notice a decrease.The decision to shift the burden from residential taxpayers to commercial taxpayers came with the ever-so-declining economy and drop in residential property value. Last year, single-family homes in Peabody were valued at an average of $374,000. This year, their value decreased by nearly nine percent to $340,000. Commercial property value, however, has stayed relatively the same.?Residential is our biggest class,” said Chief Assessor Frederick Martini. “The 9 percent drop has a huge impact on classification.”The city relies heavily on residential property taxes to meet their budget. It accounted for 80 percent of the city?s tax revenue last year, while commercial property accounted for 20 percent. So naturally, with the decline in residential property value, comes a decline in the amount of taxes received by the city.But, said Bonfanti, “We still have to pay taxes, no matter how you slice them.”Without classification, or shifting that burden, a larger increase in residential property taxes would have been necessary, regardless of the excess levy acquired by $1.2 million in new growth from businesses like The Cheesecake Factory, Avalon and Brooksby Village. With classification, homeowners will front 63.6 percent of the taxes, while the remaining 36.4 percent will be covered by local businesses.?This is probably a good year to have a small increase,” said Bonfanti, referring to the unfortunate high cost of living these days.Eighty percent of residential property owners will have to pay an additional $50 or less this year. Thirty-four percent will decrease. On average, homeowners will see an additional $44 tacked onto their bill.When broken down, it comes to a residential property tax rate of $8.67 per $1,000 and a commercial and industrial property tax rate of $17.80 per $1,000.?I?m glad the increase (for residents) has been kept minimal,” said Judy Selesnick, who later commended the city?s assessors and Finance Director Patricia Schaffer for their hard work.Fellow Councilor Bob Driscoll couldn?t have agreed more, as he thanked those responsible for “keeping the city affordable” for his constituents and his family.To date, Peabody has the fourth lowest property taxes in all of Essex County, with only Methuen, Lynn, and Salisbury ahead of them.