NAHANT– On Wednesday, the Nahant Board of Selectmen and the Board of Assessor held a public hearing on the issue of tax classification. The public expressed their views on how to tax different classes of properties in the town of Nahant.
Currently, the town taxes at a single tax rate for all property classes, which includes residential, commercial, industrial, open space, and personal property. The tax rate is $9.09 per $1,000 this year and will be the same next year. It is one of the lowest property tax rates in Essex County, according to Mark Cullinan, Vice Chairman of the Board of Selectmen.
Sheila Hambleton, Town Assessor, believes that the tax rate should remain a single tax rate for all property. She explains, “the properties in Nahant consist of over 96 percent residential properties and only 3.8 percent commercial. It isn’t worth the effort to split the tax.”
Sheila said there will not be any additional dollars if there is a tax classification, it would just be tax shifting. Even if there are more commercial properties in the future, there would be a tax classification public hearing held every year.
After the public shared their questions asking for more clarification on the current tax rate, Cullinan led the board to vote to close the property tax rate discussion. Two boards both agreed on the Fiscal Year 2023 tax rate would remain the same rate as this year.
The other decision that was made at this meeting, Cullinan moved to establish a Housing Plan Advisory Committee. The Housing Plan Advisory Committee would consist of nine members, each serving three years overlapping terms.
Members would consist of one member of the Board of Selectmen, one member of the Planning Board, one member of the Zoning Board of Appeals, one member of the Housing Authority, one member of the School Committee, one member of the Community Preservation Committee to be appointed by those respective committees, and three residents appointed by the town administrator to oversee and guide.
The plan was approved at the meeting. Town Administrator Antonio Barletta said, “the roles and responsibilities of the advisory committee will be to oversee and guide the overall process, provide local insights, act as ambassadors to the project and the overall community, and discuss strategies.”
Sylvia Chen can be reached at [email protected]
