Town Of Wakefield: Tax Rate Set For Fiscal Year 2022

Press release from the Town of Wakefield:

December 8, 2021 - 1:50pm

Wakefield’s annual classification hearing with the Town Council was held on November 8, 2021. This public hearing is a requirement of Massachusetts General Law and necessary in order to establish tax rates and send tax bills in a timely manner. Classification was adopted by the Councilors and subsequently approved by the state’s Department of Revenue. Our fiscal year 2022 tax rates will be:

• $12.32 per thousand for residential properties
• $23.77 for commercial / industrial / personal (CIP) properties

The Assessing Office engaged in a state-mandated 5-year complete revaluation of the Town for fiscal year 2022 using calendar year 2020 sales as a basis for most residential sales and 2019-2020 for other classes where there were too few sales to analyze. The average single-family home valuation increased from $588,200 to $633,300, or 7.6 percent. Commercial and industrial properties rose 4.8 percent for the same period.

Data obtained from MLS Property Information Network, Inc. indicated that the average sale price for a single-family home in Wakefield increased from $598,663 to $643,717 from 2019 to 2020 while days on market went from 35 to 27 days.

Once again, the Town Council selected the lowest residential factor allowed by law which saves residential taxpayers an average of $836.  Also, in our second year offering the Wakefield Senior Discount, 249 Wakefield seniors qualified for this new exemption and many were able to see their tax bills reduced by almost 15 percent. 

Fiscal year 2022 also represents the eighth year of the full Debt Exclusion for the new Galvin Middle School. This added $2,481,148 to our total tax levy and conforms to the restrictions of Proposition 2 ½. It adds $0.46 to the residential tax rate, or $291 on the average single-family tax bill; $0.70 is added to the CIP tax rate, or $1,003 to those bills.

The average single-family value for fiscal year 2022 is $633,300.  Although the residential tax rate was lowered, increased housing values contribute to the overall tax bill increase of $308, for an average total of $7,802. The commercial tax bill is expected to average $34,053. Since 2006, the average single-family tax bill increase has been 4.7 percent.

Property owners must be mindful that the assessments they see on their tax bills due February 1, 2022 are reflective of real estate market activity during 2020. Assessments are one year behind today’s market, and sales activity from 2021 will be used for assessments next year.

Want to learn more about exemptions? Read about available exemptions or call us at 781-246-6380.

This press release was produced by the Town of Wakefield.The views expressed here are the author’s own.