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Amid The Pandemic, Springfield City Council Prepares To Set Tax Rates

Springfield City Hall
Paul Tuthill
/
WAMC

New property tax rates are about to be set in the largest city in western Massachusetts.  

In the midst of a pandemic that has brought economic hardships including a double-digit unemployment rate to Springfield, average tax bills for homeowners and business property owners are expected to increase next year.

             Enough revenue must be raised to balance the $728 million budget approved last spring.   Property taxes account for roughly 30 percent of the budget.

              Mayor Domenic Sarno said he wants to be fair to taxpayers while maintaining city services in a fiscally responsible way.

"It is a delicate balancing act," said Sarno.

              To lessen the tax burden, Sarno is proposing to draw $1 million from the city’s free cash account, which contains unspent money from the prior fiscal year.

" I can't do it all the time, but I wanted to put in $1 million which would help lower tax bills," said Sarno.

              The City Council is scheduled to meet Monday December 7th to hold a public hearing and then vote on setting a new tax rate for residential property and a new rate for commercial and industrial property.   Generally, lowering the rate on one side causes an increase on the other.

             City Councilor Trayce Whitfield, who chairs the Finance Committee, said tax bills have gone up year-after-year.

" $20, $30,$40 each year of your tax bill going up is a burden," said Whitfield.

             At a meeting this week with city finance officials to discuss setting the new tax rates, several councilors echoed Whitfield’s concerns.

             Councilor Marcus Williams said Springfield residents are struggling with stagnant wages and rising costs of living.

"Please, I would just think it's incumbaent on the mayor and his administration to work diligently to reduce the burden on homeowners because they really have not received a break in quite some time," said Williams.

             The average tax bill for a single-family home in Springfield increased by $164 this year to $3,144.

             The value of the average single-family home has gone from $161,000 to $172,900, according to the city’s Board of Assessors.

              The city’s property tax levy is rising from $216.4 million to $228.5 million.  Board of Assessors Chairman Richard Allen said that includes the annual 2.5 percent increase allowed under state law and $6.7 million that comes from property being taxed for the first time.

              This new growth includes the Big Y Supermarket’s distribution center on Roosevelt Avenue, improvements at the CRRC railcar factory, and new housing developments.

"The investment, I interpret as a vote of confidence on the part of businesses and homeowners in the city of Springfield," said Allen.  "It is very strong year for new growth."

               Allen said the City Council needs to set the new tax rates so the next quarterly tax bill can be mailed on time during the last week of December.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.
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