By Adam Swift
Revere homeowners will see their property tax bills stay fairly even in the next fiscal year.
Monday night, the City Council approved the minimum residential tax factor, a vote that shifts the burden of property taxes to commercial property owners.
“That allows us to shift the tax rate 175 percent onto the commercial (property),†said Chief Assessor Dana Brangiforte. “Doing so allows us to adopt the lowest residential tax rate possible.â€
With the tax shift approved, the state’s Department of Revenue still has to approve the project tax rate.
It’s expected that the residential tax rate for FY23 will be $9.51 per $1,000 of valuation, while the commercial rate would be set at $18.98.
Also taken into account in the amount residents will pay on their tax bill is the valuation of the properties.
“Single family homes, value wise, were up around 10 percent,†said Brangiforte.
With the proposed tax rate, the average single-family homeowner in Revere will see an increase on their tax bill of $33 for FY23. The average single-family home value in the city is about $473,000.
“Some will pay more and some less, but on average, it is not a substantial increase,†Brangiforte said.
Condominium owners can expect to see a decrease in their bills of about $40 on average, and owners of two-family homes a decrease of about $20. The average tax bill on three-family homes will increase by about $90, according to Brangiforte.
On the commercial side, he said property owners can expect to see a 14 percent increase in the tax bill, although he said that increase is more dependent on the size of the property, with owners of smaller businesses and properties likely not seeing as large of a hike.
Brangiforte also touched on the total amount of money the city can raise through property taxes in FY23, noting there was about $3 million of new growth, raising the levy limit from about $102 million last year to $107,656,000 in FY23. Under state law, the city can increase the levy limit by 21/2 percent per year, and then add in the new growth.
Growth is anything that is subject to new taxation for the first time, from new building to renovations.
There was about $1 million in residential new growth for FY23, with the main drivers being development at 656 Ocean Ave., the old G&J towing site on Whitin Avenue, 257 Washington Ave., and the planned residential development at the Suffolk Downs property.
Commercial new growth nearly doubled the residential growth at about $2 million, with the the major parcels being the commercial development at Suffolk Downs, the new Amazon facility on Squire Road, and a new hotel at 400 Ocean Ave.