Tax Rate is up in 2016

By Sue Ellen Woodcock

Winthrop property owners will see an increase in their tax bills for fiscal year 2016. The new rate will be $15.37 per $1,000 of valuation, which is a 7.2 percent percent increase over the fiscal year 2015 rate of $14.34 per $1,000 of valuation.

The Board of Assessors met with the town council on Tuesday night to set the classification for the tax rate for next year. Once the Department of Revenue certifies the paperwork the rate will become official. There are five tax classifications in Winthrop – residential, open space, commercial, industrial and personal property. All five classes will have the rate of $15.37 per $1,000 of valuation.

Deputy Assessor Stephen Roche said the increase is mainly due to the construction of the new high school.

For a home with an assessed value of $300,000 the tax bill will go up just over $300; for a home with an average assessed value of $354,113 the tax bill will go up by $513.

Roche noted that new growth in Winthrop did increase last year due to construction in the single family home sector. Overall, residential and open space in town make up roughly 93 percent of taxable value while commercial, industrial and personal property make up almost seven percent.

Winthrop has historically maintained a single tax rate, which, Roche said discourages commercial growth.

For fiscal year 2016 the valuation of the single family home is $353,113, up just over three percent from fiscal year 2015. In fiscal year 2015 the average valuation of a single family home was $343,740, up almost 12 percent from fiscal year 2014.

Roche said values of single family homes are up, as are condominiums and multi-families.

“Commercial real estate has remained static,” he said.

He added that there where 600 building permit visits and the forecast for fiscal year 2017 is for additional appreciation in property.