WinsingtonIII t1_j0x005j wrote on December 20, 2022 at 1:12 AM

With property values being one of the things increasing in Massachusetts I’m not sure that property tax rates will necessarily increase much. Towns can take in more money with the same rates as values increase. You tend to see increasing property tax rates in places where the housing market has crashed and values have dropped. For instance, upstate NY has had big problems with this historically, though I don’t know if COVID changed that.

Parallax34 t1_j0xgopb wrote on December 20, 2022 at 3:19 AM

This is not actually how property taxes work in MA. Due to Prop 2.5, property values have no bearing on the property tax revenue a municipality in MA generates. Basicaly a town can collect X revenue based on their historical norms. That amount can be increased by 2.5%/yr. Town assessors asses housing values in the town to provide a weighting for your portion of the property tax revenue vs your neighbors. Ultimately the sum of the property values is divided by the revenue the town will collect and that determines the rate.

If all property values doubled next year a towns property tax rate would automatically get cut in half, or vice versa.

DunkinRadio t1_j0yl6jt wrote on December 20, 2022 at 11:08 AM

This. I'm always amused by the "property values are down the last few years, so why aren't I paying less taxes" outrage.

WinsingtonIII t1_j0yppq3 wrote on December 20, 2022 at 12:04 PM

My mistake, thanks. Either way, it doesn’t sound like OP’s suggestion that property tax rates are going to increase is accurate given the limitations in place.