During the annual tax classification hearing last week, Harald Scheid, of Regional Resources Group, Harvard’s assessor, told the selectmen that the only question before them was whether to adopt a single or a split tax rate for the next fiscal year, and by a four to one vote, they chose to stick with a single rate.
State law allows a town to set different tax rates for residential and commercial or industrial properties. Devens, for example, has two; Harvard has always had one.
All of the requirements for the selectmen to make their determination for the current fiscal 2016 year had been met, Scheid said. The town’s property valuations had been approved by the state’s Department of Revenue.
Next year, due in part to a 3 to 4 percent increase in property values, the total value of town property will exceed $1 billion, and the town can expect total tax revenue of $19,519,330 for fiscal 2016 (this year), Scheid said. The estimated single tax rate will be $18.05 per thousand, up from $17.79 in fiscal 2015, and the tax bill for an average $525,000 house in Harvard will increase by about $296.
Selectman Leo Blair pointed out that if the town were to adopt a split tax rate, the result would be a residential tax rate of $17.58 versus $27.07 for commercial taxpayers. Ninety-five percent of the town’s total assessed property value is residential.
When the board voted four to one to adopt a single tax rate once again, Blair voted nay.
