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Fiscal Year 2013 Tax Classification
November 27, 2012
Tax Rates and the Commercial Shift
The first step in setting the tax rate is to determine the tax levy or that amount of money that is to be
raised by real and personal property taxation.
FY 12 levy $ 75,089,035 includes debt service
start FY 12 levy limit $ 74,716,644
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -
+ 2.50% $ 1,867,916
+ New Growth $ 1,486,357
-- - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- -
= FY 13 levy limit $ 78,070,917
+ Debt Service $ 327,872
_ under levy limit $ (27,370) caused by rounding
FY 13 levy $ 78,371,418.86 FlscalO2012 inc ase over
The second step in setting the tax rate is to determine what percentage share of the tax levy each class
of property will bear. For Watertown, there are essentially two property types or classes that
collectively raise the levy:
Residential
Commercial/Industrial & Personal Property (CIP)
Very simply stated, the tax rate is determined by dividing the total amount of taxes (levy) to be raised
by the total taxable valuation of all real and personal property as determined by the Assessors.
For example: For Fiscal Year 2013 the Watertown tax levy of$78,371,418 divided by the total value
of all real and personal property of$5,052,185,496 yields a tax rate of$15.51 per thousand dollars of
valuation.
This calculation results in what is known as the flat or single tax rate. Massachusetts Law permits
cities and towns to classify property according to use or property type, and to establish separate tax
rates for the different classes. Historically, like many cities and towns, Watertown has chosen to split
or"shift" the flat rate into two rates; a residential rate and a commercial (CIP) rate. The shift in the tax
rates was originally intended to help alleviate rapidly rising residential tax rates by "shifting" more of
the tax burden onto the commercial (CIP) class.
Pagel
Originally the law permitted the flat or single rate to be shifted by up to 150%. So the flat tax rate of
$15.51 per thousand could be as high as $23.27 for the CIP class resulting in a lower tax rate for the
residential class. Later in the 1980's the legislature amended the law to allow for a shift of up to 175%
and more recently in Fiscal Year 2004 the shift ceiling was placed at 200% with a sunset clause that
expired in Fiscal Year 2009.
Over a long period of time, residential property values have risen much more rapidly than commercial
property values and without these shifts, residential property owners would today be paying
considerably more in real estate taxes than they are today in towns like Watertown that have a split tax
rate.
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Note: Certain suburban and rural towns have a third split in the tax rate for"open space"which permits a lower tax rate for
vacant parcels (of which Watertown has very few) to help alleviate development pressure and preserve farmland and
woodlands.
The Watertown experience
Chart A on the following page shows the history of residential and commercial tax rates for the last
sixteen fiscal years and the corresponding shifts that were voted in those years.
During the late 1990's, the commercial shift continued to increase until it reached the 175% ceiling in
Fiscal Year 2002. Without these shifts, the average residential tax bill would have seen much bigger
increases. Soon after the ceiling was hit, you can see that residential tax bills suddenly jumped up
because shifting the commercial rate up was no longer an option.
Over the past year, residential values have increased due to the appreciation of residential property in
the majority of neighborhoods. The town wide residential assessments appreciated from calendar year
2010 to 2011. This appreciation within the residential class is encouraging for our community as
marketing conditions continue to improve town wide. The completion of the residential cyclical re-
inspection for Fiscal Year 2012 has allowed the Assessors to have a more accurate data which assists
the office in implementing more realistic depreciation schedules for all residential property.
Commercial, Industrial and Personal Property (CIP) values are stable town wide with a complete re-
collection of all three classes. The Personal Property had a dramatic increase of 50% in new growth.
The Industrial and Commercial growth was very similar to a year ago, however, the measuring and
inspecting of all our buildings and personal property has greatly increased the accuracy of how we
assess our(CIP).
The impact of selecting different CIP shifts is displayed on Chart A on the following page.
Page 2
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The Residential Exemption
Thirteen municipalities in Massachusetts have adopted the Residential Exemption. This provision in
the law allows for a shift of the tax burden within the residential class by granting a discount to owner
occupied properties. There are no age or income requirements. The only requirement is that the
property owner occupy the property on January i of the year preceding the benefit year. So to qualify
for the residential exemption for Fiscal Year 2013, the property must have been owned and occupied
by the applicant on or before January 1 of 2012.
The Residential Exemption discount is voted on each year by the Town Council and it can range
anywhere between 1% to 30% of the average residential property assessment. Like the commercial
shift, there is no loss of tax revenue for the town, but instead the tax burden is shifted from one group
of taxpayers to another. Qualifying residential properties receive a tax decrease while non-qualifying
residential taxpayers receive a tax increase.
For example: If the total value of all residential property is 750 million with a tax rate of $10. per
thousand, the residential class raises 7.5 million dollars in property tax revenue. Now if the average
residential property is assessed for $100,000 and receives a 20% discount, the new taxable assessment
becomes $80,000. This discount when applied to many qualifying properties has the effect of lowering
the total assessed value of the residential property class. The same amount of tax revenue must still be
collected, so now a total residential property value of 675 million must raise 7.5 million dollars and the
result is an adjusted residential tax rate of$11.11 per thousand.
So the qualifying property assessed for $100,000 would be discounted to $80,000 and pay $888.88 in
taxes (a savings of$111.11) while a non qualifying property assessed for $100,000 will pay $1,111 (an
increase of$111.11).
The chart on the previous page (Chart A) shows the history of the Watertown residential exemption
discount over the last sixteen years. As the average residential assessment increased over time, the
exemption amount also increased, giving a greater benefit to the owner occupied qualified properties
and exacting higher taxes from non-qualifying properties. With recent declines in residential values,
the dollar benefit has continued to increase because the residential tax rate has increased.
For Fiscal Year 2013 the Assessors are projecting 6,191 qualifying properties. Because the total tax
collected from the residential class must remain the same, this has the effect of driving up the
residential tax rate from a projected $12.82 per thousand with no exemption to $14.68 utilizing the
historic 20% exemption discount and a CIP shift of 175% (Chart B on page 5).
Page 4
Fiscal Year 2013 Residential Exemption
(For Owner Occupied properties)
SHIFT= 1.75 Projected Tax Rates page 5
$ 12.82 $ 13.24 $ 13.69 $ 14.17 $ 14.68 $ 15.24 $ 15.83
Discount% 11*1 5010
10% 15% 20% 25% 30% non non
Exemption Exemption Exemption Exemption Exemption Exemption Exemption qualifying qualifying
value credit 0 $ 21,042 $ 42,084 $ 63,126 $ 84,168 $ 105,210 $ 126,252 property property
tax credit 0 S 279 $ 676 $ 894 $ 1,236 $ 1,603 $ 1.999, at 20%factor at 25%factor
Assessment taxes I taxes taxes taxes taxes taxes taxes taxes taxes
$ 100,000 $ 1,282 $ 1.045 $ 793 $ 523 $ 232 $ - $ - $ 1,468 $ 1,524
$ 150,000 $ 1,923 $ 1,707 $ 1,477 $ 1,231 $ 966 $ 683 $ 376 $ 2,202 $ 2,286
low $ 200,000 $ 2,564 $ 2,369 $ 2.162 $ 1,940 $ 1,700 $ 1,445 $ 1,167 $ 2,936 $ 3,048
$ 250,000 $ 3,205 $ 3,031 $ 2.846 $ 2,648 $ 2,434 $ 2,207 $ 1,959 $ 3,670 $ 3,810
$ 300,000 $ 3,846 $ 3,693 $ 3,531 I $ 3,357 $ 3,168 $ 2,969 $ 2,750 $ 4.404 $ 4,572
$ 350,000 $ 4,487 I $ 4,355 $ 4,215 $ 4,065 $ 3,902 $ 3.731 $ 3.542 $ 5.138 $ 5.334
$ 400,000 $ 5,128 I $ 5.017 $ 4,900 $ 4,774 $ 4,636 $ 4,493 $ 4,333 $ 5,872 $ 6,096
eve I $ 420,841 I $ 5,39.5 I $ 5,293 $ 5.185 $ 5.069 $ 4,942 I$ 4.810 I$ 4,663 1$ 6,178 $ 6,414
$ 450,000 I $ 5,769 $ 5,679 $ 5,584 I $ 5,482 $ 5,370 $ 5,255 $ 5,125 $ 6,606 $ 6,858
$ 500,000 $ 6,410 $ 6,341 I $ 6,269 I $ 6,191 I $ 6,104 I $ 6,017 $ 5,916 $ 7.340 $ 7.620
$ 550,000 I $ 7,051 I $ 7,003 I $ 6,953 I $ 6,899 I $ 6,838 I $ 6.779 I $ 6,708 $ 8,074 I$ 8,382
$ 600.000 $ 7.692 $ 7.665 I $ 7,638 $ 7,608 I $ 7,572 I $ 7,541 $ 7,499 $ 8,808 I$ 9,144
$ 650,000 $ 8,333 $ 8,327 I $ 8,322 $ 8.316 $ 8,306 I$ 8,303 $ 8,291 $ 9,542 $ 9,906
$ 700,000 I $ 8,974 $ 8,989 I $ 9,007 $ 9,025 $ 9,040 $ 9,065 $ 9,082 $ 10,276 $ 10,668
high I $ 750.000 $ 9,615 $ 9,651 $ 9.691 I $ 9,733 $ 9,774 S 9,827 $ 9,874 $ 11,010 $ 11,430
S 800,000 $ 10,256 $ 10,313 $ 10,376 I $ 10,442 I $ 10,508 I $ 10,589 $ 10,665 $ 11,744 $ 12,192
$ 850,000 I$ 10,897 $ 10,975 I $ 11,060 I $ 11,150 I S 11,242 I $ 11,351 $ 11,457 $ 12,478 $ 12,954
$ 900,000 $ 11,538 $ 11,637 I $ 11,745 I $ 11,859 I $ 11,976 I $ 12.113 I $ 12,248 $ 13,212 I$ 13,716
$ 11000,000 $ 12,820 $ 12,961 I $ 13,114 $ 13,276 I $ 13,444 $ 13,637 I $ 13,831 $ 14,680 I$ 15,240
The residential exemption amount(value credit)is based on the average residential assessment(yellow)
multiplied by the chosen discount factor which can range between 1 and 30%
- This value credit is then subtracted from the assessed value of every qualifying property. The reduced
assessment is then mullipled by the tax rate that results from the selected discount factor.
- Essentially,the residential exemption is funded by the non-owner occupied residential properties which are
taxed at the full assessed value with no value credit.
- As the property assessment increases,the tax savings from the exemption diminishes to a point where high
value properties actually pay more with the residential exemption in place than without It(pink shaded area).
Wlk.is receiving;the benefit of the Residential Exemption?
type total# exempt percent
single fam. 2899 2405 83.0%
condos 3349 2110 63.0%
2 family 2811 1499 53.3%
3 family 392 138 35.2%
opts 4-8 uni 131 12 9.2%
other 164 27 16.5%
totals 9746 6191 63.5%
Page 5
Community Comparison
When considering the impact of tax rates and shifts, it is useful to look beyond our borders to discover
how nearby communities are dealing with similar issues. Chart C on the following page provides a
view of the tax structure of other nearby cities and towns. Some of our neighbors have split tax rates
while others do not. Generally, the smaller the commercial/industrial and personal property (CIP)
share is of the total assessed value, the less benefit there is to shifting the tax rate. Arlington and
Belmont both have very low CIP shares while Boston and Cambridge have high CIP shares. Boston
and Cambridge also offer a larger residential exemption percentage which coupled with large
commercial tax bases, serves to push down the average residential tax bill. While Newton does have a
commercial shift, they have chosen not to utilize the residential exemption and consequently the
average residential tax bill is very high. Waltham, which is most similar to Watertown in its socio-
economic structure, has a much larger commercial tax base which results in a lower residential tax rate
and like Watertown they also have utilized a 20%residential exemption discount in the past.,
Taxpayers often cite that other nearby cities and towns have lower tax rates but they fail to realize that
the average residential assessments in those municipalities may be considerably higher. Just looking at
the tax rate in Newton for example, a taxpayer might conclude that taxes are lower there than in
Watertown. But with a much higher average assessed value, taxes in Newton are in fact much higher.
While it is true that more affluent cities and towns have many more high end properties which tend to
drag up the average, it is also safe to say that the typical home in Watertown would be considerably
more valuable were it placed in Newton or Belmont and conversely, somewhat less valuable if placed
in Waltham.
Page 6
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