Billerica sets tax rate for fiscal 2022

Rate goes down but bill will be higher due to rise in house values

Billerica » While residential tax rates will go down next year, the average tax bill in town will go up as property values increase.

The Select Board last week approved a rate of $12.64 per $1,000 of value for fiscal 2022, down from $13 in fiscal 2021. The commercial property rate will go down to $26.78 per $1,000 of value from $29.89 in the last fiscal year.

Like some neighboring communities, Billerica uses a split tax system, with a commercial, industrial and personal property tax shift of 175%, placing a higher tax burden on commercial properties than residential. The town has repeatedly approved a 175% CIP shift for more than the past decade, the highest allowed by state law.

Board of Assessors Chair John Speidel explained to the Select Board that property values in Billerica had gone up 8.1% since last year for residential properties, while business property values have increased by just 4.8%.

“To lower the CIP shift would further burden residential property owners as the property assessments continue to depreciate due to market conditions in 2020,” Speidel said. “To lower the CIP shift in addition to the valuation change would unduly inflate residential taxes and benefit business taxes, when they’ve already been benefited by the decrease in the business tax rate over the last four years.”

Selectwoman Kim Conway said that she was unhappy to see tax bills going up for Billerica residents, but knew that this rate was the best possible scenario.

“As an elected official, I would love to say, ‘We brought your tax rate down, that’s great, look what we’ve done,’ but the reality is the average tax bill is going to go up 5%,” she said. “This is the highest increase that we’ve seen in the average tax rate in the last four or five years for residential. … What we’re seeing is what’s going on in the whole country.”