OPINION: Residential Property Taxes Continue to Rise in Westwood; More Overrides in Our Future

The following opinion article represents the views and opinions of the author, and not necessarily those of Westwood Minute.

By Allison Drescher

You will notice a significant increase in your new tax bill. Residential tax bills, mailed on January 1, 2024, reflect a 25% average increase in assessed home values. This was proposed by the Town Assessor and unanimously approved by the Westwood Select Board at their December 2023 meeting.

This is a significant re-evaluation for any town or municipality. This assessment increase allowed Westwood to actually lower the per thousand rate by significantly increasing home values in the eyes of the assessing department. The tax rate decreased. The tax bills increased.

With this recent assessment increase, in addition to the Hanlon-Deerfield tax override, Westwood now has higher taxes than neighboring towns. Westwood is $12.81/$1,000 of value as compared to Needham ($12.52), Dedham ($12.50), sharply more than Dover ($10.96), Boston ($10.90) and Norwood ($10.47). Even Wellesley is at $10.41. Weston recently lowered property taxes. Per a December 6th article in the Westwood Minute, you can view a per thousand dollars in value chart, https://westwoodminute.town.news/g/westwood-ma/n/231190/property-tax-rate-comparison-chart-westwood-and-area-municipalities

Concerning is the increased appetite for future spending. Funding for these projects has limited sourcing – mostly, anticipated tax overrides from residential taxpayers in Westwood.

A special town meeting has been called for Wednesday, January 17, 2024 at 6:30 PM in the Westwood High School. At this meeting, the town will be asked to allocate $2.1M to “pay the costs associated with designing, preparing and obtaining bid documents, for a new Fire Station”. You must attend this Special Town Meeting to cast a vote on these fiscal matters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMtrwH5q2gc&t=24s

At Spring Town Meeting (currently scheduled for 5/6/2024) the taxpayers will be asked to support, and vote on funding this new fire station, currently estimated at $40 million. Certainly, we want to support our First Responders, but this constitutes another real estate tax increase.

Additionally, the Long Range Financial Planning Committee is discussing implementation of the CPA or the Community Preservation Act https://www.mass.gov/lists/community-preservation-act

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This is an additional 3% surtax added onto your real estate tax bill to fund open space, historic resources, affordable housing and recreational space. Perhaps this is the genesis for funding the $10 million demanded by Hale Reservation? According to the School Committee, the schools are in woeful disrepair, requiring further spending for upgrades and improvements.

If you as a homeowner are concerned about these tax increases, what can you do? It starts with participating in town government. Go to the meeting on January 17th. You must be physically present to vote. In addition, listen to the Select Board, Finance & Warrant Commission Meetings (FinCom) and the Long Range Financial Planning Committee, as well as School Committee meetings. They are available at through live links on the town website or retrospectively on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WestwoodMediaCenterProgramming

Hopefully, the Hanlon-Deerfield School will be a benefit to the community. It should, however, be noted that when the project was presented to the voters, the cost structure reflected a variance of interest rates for the issuance of municipal bonds between 2% and 4%. Most of the bonds have issued at 3.7%. https://westwoodminute.town.news/g/westwood-ma/n/115985/select-board-discusses-hanlon-deerfield-school-building-project-bond-and

These economic changes are not the fault of the Select Board, nor those who dedicate a great deal of time to town governance. However, stewardship in different financial times requires participation and input from the townspeople.

The private sector is forced to curtail spending when economic shifts of this scope take place. Construction costs have virtually doubled as inflation abounds. Interest rates are prohibiting private sector growth. Insurance hikes are now typically 20-25% across the board. As a result, companies can do less. They are forced to cut back.

The desire of the residents remains unclear; but participation in town meetings and voting in local elections in Westwood is very small. But, make no mistake about it, the only way to continue to fund large projects is by annually increasing our real estate taxes, so homeowners will pay for it.

At what point do high real estate taxes adversely impact property values in Westwood?

Thanks to Allison Drescher for contributing this opinion article to Westwood Minute. Ms. Drescher is is a resident of Westwood; a principal and manager of a family-owned real estate portfolio in and around Boston and president of SPOA, the Small Property Owners Association. She can be reached at westwoodtaxpayers@gmail.com.

Westwood Minute takes no position on the opinion articles that it publishes, but seeks accurate and thoughtful commentary on topics that matter to our community, from a variety of differing viewpoints. Feel free to reply with your reaction below, or submit another perspective to WestwoodInAMinute@gmail.com.

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