For the first time in memory, Harvard will not increase its tax levy for the current tax year by the full amount permitted by state law.
The value of new construction and Proposition 2½ would have allowed the town to increase the amount of property taxes to be raised to $20,015,054, but projections for fiscal 2017, the current tax year, indicated that a lesser amount of $19,858,253 was needed to cover the town’s expenses. The lower amount leaves Harvard with an unused levy capacity of $156,800.
Harvard’s associate regional assessor, Rebecca Boucher, delivered the news at this year’s tax classification hearing, held Tuesday, Nov. 15, at the selectmen’s regular meeting. The annual hearing is held before third-quarter property tax bills are mailed to homeowners and businesses in town.
The classification hearing is also the time when the assessors announce their estimate of the property tax rate needed to raise the levy. This year’s estimated rate is $8.10 per thousand dollars of assessed value, a five-cent increase over fiscal 2016. Boucher estimated that taxes on an average Harvard home will increase about 1.8 percent, or $183. But that rate, noted Boucher, is an estimate and subject to approval by the state Department of Revenue.
The principal reason for the lower levy, Town Administrator Tim Bragan told the selectmen, was the increase in receipts from permits and other fees that the town has collected in recent years, lowering the amount that needs to be raised from taxes. According to Bragan and Boucher, this year’s unused levy is available to meet the needs of a future budget.
The levy amount of any given year is determined by the budget, which is the amount approved by Town Meeting, less revenue from other sources, such as motor vehicle excise taxes, town fees, and state aid. The maximum amount allowed is determined by adding 2.5 percent to the previous year’s levy limit plus the value of newly taxable properties. Unused levy is not to be confused with free cash, Bragan noted; free cash is budgeted money left unspent at the end of the fiscal year.
In other action, the selectmen voted to maintain a single tax rate this year for residential and commercial properties, as well as personal property.
