Residential property tax bill to rise in Lynn

LYNN – The average single-family home property tax bill could rise by as much as 5 percent, according to the city’s top finance official, with rebounding home values the primary reason for the increase.”People are going to be paying more for taxes,” said Chief Financial Officer Peter Caron.That news prompted Range Heights Circle resident Gail Guimond to shake her head Monday as she thumbed through her checkbook. Gail and her husband, Len, have lived on their small side street for more than 30 years. She estimated they paid $5,200 in property taxes this year.”Any increase is a pain – it’s difficult,” she said.The average single-family’s bill jumped from $3,655 to $3,733 from 2012 to 2013. Exact calculations for new bills will be available once Caron computes property tax rates this week.When city councilors meet Dec. 16, they will almost certainly vote to adopt a formula placing the lowest tax-raising burden possible on residential property owners – as they have done every year for 30 years since the state’s property tax limitation law went on the books.Even under that formula, tax bills will be larger next year, Caron said, with condominium owners seeing a smaller hike, percentage-wise, than single-family homeowners and multi-family building owners seeing the biggest increase.By comparison, business owners will see smaller bills, relatively speaking, said Caron.Single-family home values dropped, according to city records, from an average of $225,400 in 2011 to $215,600 in 2012 – before they started climbing again, Caron said, with this year’s property revaluation showing “a significant jump” in residential value.Under state law, property must be assessed at full and fair market value. Caron said the city revalues property annually with the state auditing the local revaluation process once every three years – including this year.Residents can compare the assessed value of their home this year to the proposed new value in the Assessing Department in City Hall. A quick look shows a Cherry Street home’s value increasing from $200,000 to $210,800. A home on River Street climbed in value from $150,200 to $167,100 and a neighbor of the Guimonds had the value of his home increase from $289,000 to $309,200.