HANSON – The Select Board, meeting at Needles Lodge, Camp Kiwanee on Tuesday, Nov. 19, held the annual tax classification hearing, opting unanimously to continue Hanson’s tradition of adopting a single tax rate for fiscal 2015.
Assessor Denise Alexander, in introducing herself and Board of Assessors Chair Patricia O’Kane urged residents to consult the Assessors’ page on the town website – hanson-ma.gov – for more information, or to follow along with the classification hearing.
She informed the board that Hanson’s excess levy capacity for fiscal 2025 is $3,946.58.
“The purpose of the classification hearing is to determine whether the town of Hanson will continue to [use] a single tax rate for all classes of property, or split the tax rate, shifting the burden toward commercial/industrial and personal property,” Alexander said. “We are here to present the information complied by our office for allocating the percentage of levy to be borne by each property class.”
The Select Board voted on three points:
Deciding between a uniform or a split tax rate;
Whether or not to adopt the residential exemption; and
Whether or not to adopt the small commercial exemption.
Based on current information available to the Assessors’ Office calculations, the tax rate is at $13.3 per thousand, as a single rate, which coincidentally, is exactly the rate the town had last year, according to Alexander.
The primary tax class in Hanson is primarily residential, she noted – 93 percent. Commercial, light industrial and personal property make up the remaining 7 percent.
“Hanson has such a small rate of commercial property, that adopting a split rate would shift the larger burden onto commercial, industrial and personal property owners,” Alexander said. “The Hanson Select Board has always voted to maintain a single tax rate for this reason.” She also said that the Board of Assessors have voted to recommend a uniform tax rate for fiscal 2025 for this reason.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea at all,” Vice Chair Ann Rein said when Chair Laura FitzGerald-Kemmett asked if any board members wanted to entertain dividing the tax rate to exact more in taxes from commercial and industrial taxpayers.
“Historically we’ve never done that because, frankly, we want to do whatever we can to welcome businesses here,” FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
The Select Board voted unanimously to continue with the status quo.
The Board also voted against a residential exemption on the Board of Assessors’ recommendation.
Alexander said there has been a recent jump in the values of such properties. Between 2023-24 there was a 9 to 10 percent increase in those properties’ values, but there was only a 3-percent increase in the past year.
“This is something we hear all the time, ‘They keep increasing our taxes, they’re increasing our taxes,’” FitzGerald-Kemmett said. “Can you address that, because the tax rate is not increasing.”
“The tax rate’s not changing,” Alexander said. “The values are increasing due to the sales in town … Because the values are going up, everybody’s values are going up.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett also said she has heard residents complain that Hanson is increasing property values more than other surrounding towns, and asked Alexander how the valuations are arrived at.
“The deeds are proof of the value,” Alexander said. “Based on the qualified sales only – we don’t use private sales and foreclosures – once we have the qualified values set, it is an algorithm that our appraisal company has. Even the value of the land is done that way.”
FitzGerald-Kemmett also noted that the residential exemption is usually used by communities with a high rate of rental properties.
The board unanimously voted in support of the Board of Assessors in declining residential exemption in Hanson.
A small commercial exemption applies to small businesses doing under $1 million in business each year, with less than 10 employees. But the tax break goes to the building not the businesses. Hanson has 23 small businesses that occupy their properties, but they don’t own them. There are only about 15 businesses in town that would benefit, according to Alexander.
Maintaining a uniform tax rate benefits all businesses, FitzGerald-Kemmett said.
The board unanimously voted against using the small commercial exemption.