Politics & Government

Selectmen Nearly Raise Commercial Tax Rate

Reading's tax rate will increase from $13.80 per $1,000 to $14.15 per $1,000.

Reading’s businesses this week nearly found themselves shouldering a larger share of the town’s tax burden.

As part of the board’s annual tax duties on Tuesday, Selectman Ben Tafoya asked his fellow selectmen to vote with him to increase the tax rate for commercial businesses to $15.57 per $1,000 of property value while holding the town’s residential tax rate to $13.99 per $1,000.

Chairwoman Camile Anthony voted with Tafoya to shift the burden to businesses, but the opposition of Stephen Goldy and James Bonazoli defeated the measure 2-2; Selectman Richard Schubert was absent.

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The measure would have increased the annual tax bill of the typical Reading business by $2,155 while reducing the tax bill for the typical Reading homeowner by $71.

Ultimately, the board voted to approve a tax rate of $14.15 per $1,000 (an increase over the current tax rate of $13.80 per $1,000) across all properties, which William Crowley of the Reading/North Reading Chamber of Commerce called “an equal application of the tax rate.”

Find out what's happening in Readingwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Prior to Tafoya’s motion, Crowley urged the Selectmen to keep the tax rate distributed as it currently is. Due to the small number of commercial properties in Reading, Crowley said, a small shift of taxes away from residential owners would lead to a large increase on commercial owners. That, he said, would force businesses to pass those costs on to customers, making them less competitive.

Anthony said she had heard the same arguments for and against shifting taxes for 18 years, but the chamber’s argument may not win the day for much longer.

Selectman Goldy said that the primary thing that stopped him from voting in favor of the shift was uncertainty about how many Reading businesses would be benefit from a potential small business exemption.

The clause would allow the owners of commercial properties worth less than $1 million, with fewer than 10 employees in the state, an up-to ten percent reduction on their tax bill.

The board asked Reading’s appraiser to research the question prior to next year’s vote on the town’s tax rate.


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