Most property owners in Hopedale seeing smaller tax bills

Most property owners in Hopedale are seeing smaller tax bills in the current fiscal year, despite increases of more than 6 percent in both the town’s commercial and residential tax rates.

The typical homeowner will pay between $100 and $200 less than in fiscal 2010, according to Town Coordinator Eugene Phillips. He attributed the smaller bills to a decline in property values as well as steps the town has taken to reduce costs.

“We’ve been very frugal at the local level the last couple years,” Phillips said. “Our employees have worked with us” to find ways to save money.
Hopedale, he said, saved more than $600,000 through changes in its health care plan and by joining a regional dispatch center based in Mendon.

Phillips estimated that 90 percent to 95 percent of Hopedale homeowners are seeing lower bills. Because the first two quarterly bills in fiscal 2011 were estimates, it was not until January that property-owners became aware of the savings. But the smaller bills, Phillips said, were no surprise to town officials.

“We were forecasting lower taxes in the spring Town Meeting last year, if the budget was approved,” he said.

When property taxes decline, it is generally the result of significant new commercial development being added to a municipality’s tax rolls. A drop in tax bills without the benefit of new development is “very rare,” said Department of Revenue spokesman Robert Bliss.

According to DOR figures, the overall property valuation in Hopedale fell from $707 million in fiscal 2010 to $657.9 million in fiscal 2011, a decline that Bliss described as consistent with drops in valuation among similar communities.