Chesterfield’s tax rate increases as property values climb

CHESTERFIELD — Chesterfield’s property tax rate for fiscal year 2025 will increase by 60 cents from last year to $15.57 per $1,000 of assessed property value. This translates to the average single-family home assessed at $300,000 paying $4,671 in taxes, or an $180 increase from last year when the rate was $14.97 per $1,000 of assessed value.

This is the first time the tax rate has increased since 2021, when the rate was raised from $20.11 in fiscal year 2020 to $20.20 in fiscal year 2021, and the last few years have shown trends of a decreasing rate.

The past years’ rate decreases have coincided with a boom in assessment values, Board of Assessors Administrative Assistant Kelley Hopkins said on Wednesday. This transition was spurred by the pandemic, when many fled cities opting for rural homes in the growing era of remote work and less commuting. During this time, she said, she has seen houses sold at prices that formerly had only been seen in the rural communities of the southern Berkshires.

Explaining that assessment values have “gone crazy,” she said that $400,000 used to be a rare, almost unspeakable number for a home sale in Chesterfield. Now, properties are “routinely” sold at this price point, with properties being sold for as high as $800,000 in the community.

The property values, she said, particularly around Damon Pond, have gone up due to it being the only body of water in town, and selling at high prices. Homeowners living in that area are most likely to see increases in their taxes, she said.

Hopkins said while some older community members, many of whom have been in town for generations, may be unhappy about the increases in taxes as a result of rising property values, this can level out because those homeowners could recoup their money if they were to sell their properties, due to the spiking values.

Samuel Gelinas can be reached at sgelinas@gazettenet.com