Andover residents may be looking at a property tax increase between 4.9 and 5.2 percent, based on an assessor’s report the select board will review when it meets at 7 p.m. in the school administration building Wednesday.
The report (beginning on page 23 in the meeting packet) outlines shifts the select board can approve to split the burden carried by residential, commercial, and industrial properties. While Massachusetts law prohibits municipalities from raising taxes more than 2.5 percent annually, Andover voters have previously approved overrides of Proposition 2 1/2 to take on debt for new schools and to fully fund the Town’s pension.
If the board adopts the same shift as last year, residential property taxpayers would see an average increase of 5.2 percent in the annual tax bills, down from 5.9 percent this year. Commercial and industrial tax bills would rise to 4.7 and 9 percent, respectively.
If the board were to opt for a shift that would “keep the tax increases as uniform as possible,” average residential property tax bills would rise 5.2 percent. A third option offered in the report would put the increase at 4.9 percent by keeping the shift in line with the shift for the fiscal year ending June 30.
Last year, the select board approved a 5.9 percent residential property tax hike, putting the average tax bill at $11,773. The board has the latitude to consider other shifts than those included in the assesor’s report.
Annual Town Meeting already approved next year’s rates in May. Current year tax rates are $13.66 per $1,000 of assessed value for residential property and $27.32 for commercial, industrial, and personal property.
While the actual tax rate set by the select board has decreased in five of the last six years, tax bills have risen about 5 percent annually because of assessment increases. The average assessed value of single family homes in Andover is rising 11.4 percent to $957,215 iin 2024, up from the current year’s $858,952.