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Photos by Westwood Minute (Westwood Fire Station 1) and Andrey Popov from Getty Images (house with coins).
12-03-2023 11:37pm
Westwood Taxes, Property Assessments, and Funding for Fire Station 1 Construction (Updated)
Darlene Cancell
Editor
Editor's Note: Related to the two issues that the author Professor Peter Ittig discusses below, on Monday, December 4, 2023, Westwood Select Board will hold a FY24 Tax Classification Public Hearing via Zoom, with estimated start time of 7:00 p.m. Sandwiched between other agenda items, this continued hearing occupies a time slot with an estimated duration of 15 minutes. Also, on Wednesday, December 6, 2023, the Westwood Finance and Warrant Commission will hold an in-person public hearing at Westwood Public Library regarding Select Board's proposed article to fund new construction for Fire Station 1.
By Peter T. Ittig, Ph.D., Contributor
News:
1. Property assessments for FY 2024 are out. Assessments on single family homes are up by an average of 25%.
2. A “Special Town Meeting” has been scheduled for January 17, 2024.
Details:
1. The Westwood Board of Assessors has finished the property assessments for the current cycle and has submitted them to the state for approval. You will eventually receive your new assessment in the mail along with a tax bill due February 1st. You may see the assessments online now on the Town Website.
The new assessments on single family homes in Westwood are up by an average of 25%. This is not the amount of your tax increase, but your taxes will probably be higher. The reason is that the increase in assessed values for homes at 25% is much larger than the increase in assessed values for other classes of property, so the tax burden will be shifted to homeowners to some extent. For example, the new assessed values are only 7% higher for commercial property, 13% for apartment buildings and 14% for condos.
The taxes on homes in Westwood rose by an average of 8% in the “preliminary” or estimated tax bills for Fiscal Year 2024 that were due in August and November. The tax increase for FY2024 must now be reallocated in line with the new assessments for the “actual” or final tax bills due in February and May. The Town may choose to adjust the “tax shift factor” to limit this effect.
You might consider an appeal for an abatement after you receive your new property assessment. There may be more appeals this year. Many people who appeal obtain a reduction. There is a hard deadline that is usually February 1st. The first step is to check for errors in the record card for your home in the Assessor’s Office. For example, you might ask for a correction if the record card shows that you have 5 bedrooms when you only have 4. Then get the abatement form and look for recent sale prices in your neighborhood for comparison.
2. A “Special Town Meeting” has been scheduled for January 17, 2024 to approve $3.5 million to design a new fire station and additional articles. Construction of the fire station will probably require an override later.
Links:
Letter from Board of Assessors on Preliminary Assessments
https://www.townhall.westwood.ma.us/home/showpublisheddocument/29653/638360705553370000
New Assessments table
https://www.townhall.westwood.ma.us/home/showpublisheddocument/29657/638360717260670000
Tax Abatement Form
https://www.townhall.westwood.ma.us/home/showpublisheddocument/5840/637011656516500000
Special Town Meeting
Thanks to Professor Peter Ittig for contributing this news to Westwood Minute. Professor Ittig was a member of the of the Westwood Finance & Warrant Commission from 2019 to 2022.
Updated 12/4/2023 at 2:58 p.m. As assessments are no longer "preliminary," that adjective has been deleted from references to assessments in this article. An expired link to preliminary assessments has been updated to a working link for new assessments.
