Fitchburg Moves to Single Tax Rate; Clinton Narrows Split
In a momentous week, the North Central Massachusetts Chamber of Commerce was on hand to testify before elected officials in Clinton and Fitchburg this week as the two communities reviewed their tax shifts for the year. In a major win for local business, Fitchburg councilors elected to move to a single rate, eliminating what remained of a six point shift! A night later, Clinton’s selectmen voted unanimously to move to a 1.52 tax shift, narrowing their split by two points and committing to moving towards a single rate over time.
Massachusetts allows two models for property taxes: single and dual rates. The single rate means that both residential and commercial/industrial properties are taxed at the same level. Meanwhile, a dual rate system dictates that commercial and industrial property taxpayers shoulder more of the burden and pays a higher share of taxes based on a property’s assessed value. A dual tax system increases costs for businesses, disincentivizes business investment and puts a community at a competitive disadvantage compared with neighboring communities that maintain a single rate.
“Your decision to gradually move towards a single tax rate is the right decision long term for the City” stated Roy Nascimento, President & CEO of the Chamber during the Fitchburg’s City Council tax hearing. “Making the commercial tax burden more competitive will position Fitchburg to attract new business investment, retain existing businesses, increase tax revenues and change outdated perceptions that the City is unfriendly to business.”
Tax shifts became a common tool to alleviate the tax burden on residents- at the expense of businesses- in the 1980s. Since then, many communities have come to recognize that imposing a split tax rate places them at a competitive disadvantage, incentivizing businesses to locate in other communities with more equitable tax policies. For that reason, only a handful of communities within the region still maintain a tax split. In smaller communities, where a greater share of real estate is zoned as residential, a tax shift is particularly frustrating as the share of the levy is transferred over to a smaller collection of stakeholders. As such, a 1.50 shift can sometimes increase a commercial ratepayers bill by as much as double in absolute terms.
This week’s votes are significant as the tax shift is perhaps the most immediate and direct manner in which municipal officials can impact businesses within their communities. “We recognize that tax rates are only one factor in an economy – energy costs, workforce, health care costs, and many other things also play a role”, Nascimento stated while speaking before Clinton’s Selectmen. “But there is nothing you can do about health care costs, energy costs, and so on. Adopting a more competitive tax rate and working towards a single rate is something that you can do something about.”
The Chamber applauds the actions of the Fitchburg City Council and the Clinton Board of Selectmen. The adoption of the single tax rate passed by an 8-2 margin at the Tuesday, December 3, 2019 Fitchburg City Council meeting with Councilors Marcus DiNatale; E. Thomas Donnelly; Marisa Fleming; Amy Green; Joel
R. Kaddy; Michael Kushmerek; Elizabeth Walsh; and Anthony Zarrella voting in favor and Councilors Samantha Squailia and Paul Beauchemin voting against. The reduction in the property tax shift from 154% to 152% passed unanimously at the Wednesday, December 4, 2019 Board of Selectmen meeting with select board members William F. Connolly, Jr.; Sean J. Kerrigan; Edward J. Devault; Michael J. Dziokonski; and John J. Boisoneau all voting to adopt the reduction.
The next edition of the North Central Massachusetts Chamber’s popular Good Morning North Central breakfast series is scheduled for Friday, January 10, 2020 from 6:45 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. at the Doubletree by Hilton, 99 Erdman Way, Leominster, MA. The January edition is sponsored by Resource Management, Inc.
We promoted visitation to North Central Massachusetts through a diverse mix of digital and print advertising in target markets. Web traffic to VisitNorthCentral. com was up 18% over the previous year. New Fall themed blog content on the website included “Apples, Apples Everywhere!,” “Halloween Happenings,” and “Ribbons of Color”. Our Facebook following grew by 86% over the Fall season, primarily due to our strategy of utilizing a combination of Facebook ads, compelling content and video. Three new Taste of North Central videos premiered on our social media channels showcasing local attractions and businesses – The Kitchen Garden of Templeton; Sholan Farms of Leominster; and Slattery’s Restaurant of Fitchburg. Our Taste of North Central series can be viewed anytime by visiting our Facebook page. Hotel occupancy for October was down 3.7% in the region from the same time last year. It was down 5.7% for the state during the same time period. Year to date, occupancy is up about 1.8% compared to the previous year and down 2.4% for the state. Revenue per available room (RevPar) decreased by 6.8% to $96.96, while up 2.2% or $106.21 for the year to date. Our Fall edition of our popular Guide to North Central Massachusetts was well received and sold out shortly after hitting the newsstands. It is distributed locally at key locations, as well as in Boston and throughout New England and as far away as Canada.
For decades, Mill No. 3 Farmstand in Fitchburg, MA has been serving locals from all over North Central Massachusetts. Originally starting as a farm stand in 1996, the business has grown to include a deli, beer & wine, groceries, flowers, coffee, pastries and the list goes on. Recently, Mill No. 3 has started to offer 50 varieties of Olive Oils & Vinegar- we’re excited to announce that Mill No. 3 oils and vinegars are now being sold at the Johnny Appleseed Visitors’ Center.