AMHERST — Homeowners who live in single-family homes in Amherst will see their average annual tax bills rise by about $275 this year.
A single tax rate for all properties in Amherst, which are mostly residential and commercial, is being maintained following a unanimous Town Council vote Monday.
Assessor David Burgess said the tax rate is expected to be $21.32 per $1,000 valuation, pending approval from the state’s Department of Revenue. That is a decrease from the $21.80 per $1,000 valuation for both residential and commercial properties in the current fiscal year.
Based on this tax rate, the average tax bill for a single-family home will rise to $7,989 from $7,714.
Though the tax rate has gone down, the value of single-family homes continues to rise in Amherst, from an average of $353,700 in 2018 to $374,722 this year.
Burgess said there was about a 6 percent increase across the board in property values, which is not unusual.
Although the town has the option to have a split tax rate that shifts more of the property tax burden to commercial properties, Burgess and Town Manager Paul Bockelman recommended against that, with only about 10 percent of properties in Amherst classified as commercial.
While spitting the tax rate could save a single-family homeowner about $500 a year, it would add more than $5,500 to the average commercial property tax bill. In the past there has been concern by elected officials that this would apply to apartment complexes and that those property owners would pass on the added cost to renters.
The Town Council also voted Monday against offering a residential exemption for owner-occupied properties, which is typically only used in communities with large vacation home populations, and voted down a small commercial exemption, which applies to properties valued at more than $1 million with 10 or fewer employees.
Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.
