Marblehead property tax bills to rise

MARBLEHEAD – Selectmen have authorized the Board of Assessors to set a Fiscal 2011 tax rate of $10.21 per $1,000 valuation, a 64-cent increase over this year.In a joint meeting Wednesday evening the Board of Assessors told the selectmen that the total valuation of the town has dropped once again, from $5.2 billion to $5.03 billion, the smallest drop since the real estate market began to skid in 2006.Homes make up $4.8 billion of this year’s total value, or about 95 percent. New growth made up $66.8 million. The increase in personal property included taxes on 2,000 feet of the offshore Algonquin natural gas pipeline, which is located 11.7 miles off Marblehead Neck.The median single family home was assessed at $483,000, a decrease of $29,000 or 5.6 percent. The median single family tax bill under the new tax rate will be $4,931, an increase of $31 or six-tenths of a percent.The average single family home assessment was $653,500. That represents a decrease from last year of $32,000 or 4.7 percent, but the tax bill on that home under the new tax rate will be $6,672, an increase of $112 or 1.7 percent.”The upper end of the real estate market retained its value,” Assistant Assessor Michael Tumulty told the selectmen. The average reflects the upper end of the market, while the median reflects the lower end, he said.The selectmen rejected discounts on open space, small businesses and vacation homes, which state law requires them to discuss and vote on every year. This year there was some discussion about setting a mathematical factor that would allow the assessors to tax business property at a higher rate than residential property.Selectman William Woodfin asked how many Massachusetts cities and towns do not use such a factor. Tumulty estimated that 40 percent do not.Woodfin called it “a point of pride” that Marblehead does not classify property for tax purposes and Selectmen Chairman James Nye said business comprises at least 15 percent of the total valuation in the communities that do classify property. Only 5 percent of Marblehead property is listed as business.