Hingham Sticks with Single Property Tax Rate

Hingham officials voted last week to keep a single tax rate for all property owners, saying that there is not yet enough commercial property in town to justify shifting the tax burden to businesses. 

The Board of Selectmen voted 3-0 on Nov. 7 to adopt a recommendation from a committee formed to study the possible classification shift. Stuart "Greg" Hall, chair of the Board of Assessors, said that the committee held three public meetings and voted Oct. 29 to recommend maintaining a single rate, according to an HCAM-TV broadcast.

There is simply not enough of a commercial tax base to justify charging commercial owners more, Hall said. Of the full levy in Hingham, 87 percent comes from residential property and 11 percent from commercial.

To save residential owners $1 per thousand in valuation, commercial owners would have to pay $10 per thousand more, Hall said. The tax rate for all property owners in  fiscal year 2013 was $12.32 per thousand, up from a recent low of $9 per thousand in 2007.

Hall said the committee reported that no additional study is necessary until the percentage of commercial properties in Hingham is significantly increased or some other event occurs.

In Braintree, for example, a tax classification shift instituted in 1986 has extracted extra value from business properties. Residential owners there pay $11.11 and commercial owners pay $25.45.