Belmont Property Tax Bill Tops Most of Its Neighbors

Town of Homes residential property tax bill trumps those of neighboring towns and cities.

It appears it will take another year before the average bill for Belmont property taxpayers hits the five figure mark.  The Belmont Board of Selectmen on Monday, Dec. 17 approved a request by the town's three-member Board of Assessors' to decrease the tax rate on all property in the "Town of Homes" in fiscal 2013 by two cents from the current $13.35 per $1,000 of assessed value to $13.33. But as the rates have fallen, the fair market value for Belmont properties has increased over the past year, and with that rise comes a higher tax bill. So how does a residential tax bill sent to Belmont property owners compare to those from around the region? At the very least, Belmont can lay claim to be paying some of the highest tax bills in the state…

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Belmont RE Tax Rate Falls But Tax Bills Won't

Increase of four percent in housing values will offset two cent drop in tax rate, leaving Belmont residents will one of the top property tax bills in the state, US.

The good news: the Belmont Board of Assessors has chopped off two cents from last year's property tax rate. The bad news: the valuation for that house your living in has in all likelihood gone up so that the next quarterly bill coming out Jan. 1 will be heading skyward. That's the conclusion for nearly all Belmont property owners as the Belmont Board of Selectmen essentially approved the new tax rate for the town at its Monday meeting, Dec. 17.  The drop from $13.35 to $13.33 per $1,000 in assessed value of the property is due in large part of a four percent increase in all properties in Belmont and a decrease in the town's tax levy capacity, said Robert Reardon, chairman of the Assessors. The end result is that Belmont taxpayers will …

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Letters to the Editor

Assessors Pitch PILOT Program

With property in non-profit hands, town needs an alternative way to pay for town services.

To the editor: Thanks to the Belmont Citizen Herald, Boston Globe, Belmont Patch, the Board of Selectmen and all interested parties in helping promote an awareness of the Belmont PILOT (In-Lieu-of-Tax-Payment) Program.   The Board of Assessors implemented this program because non-taxable entities have purchased 13 taxable properties at a cost in excess of $14 million since 2000 that will create an eventual loss of $175,000 in annual town revenue.  The single family tax bill has increased from $5,791 in FY 2000 to $9,964 in FY 2012. (A 72 percent increase). We recognize and salute the contributions of our religious, educational, and charitable organizations, as they are an important and integral part of our community and make Belmont a …

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Town Hopes PILOT Plan to Fly In Funds

Belmont hopes to emulate Cambridge's decades old successful program.

In a five-month span in 2006, houses on Somerset Street, Park Avenue and Marsh Street were sold and, suddenly, Belmont's taxes took an immediate hit of nearly $50,000. That is because the homes literally disappeared from the town's Treasurer and Tax Collector's books as if they no longer existed. The reason was quite simple; the three properties were sold to the Belmont Hill School and the Massachusetts Audubon Society, non-profits that are exempt from paying property taxes to Belmont. And the purchase of property continues. In the past six years, Belmont Hill as bought or is in the process of purchasing three properties on Prospect Street worth $6 million. As of now, the properties are being using as rentals and continue to generate …

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Belmont Property Tax Rate Will Rise to $13.35 per $1,000

Eleven cent increase due to raising home values and more taxable capacity.

First the good news: Belmont is a place lots of people want to live. And that popularity has translated to where even "in this bad economy," property values of homes in the "Town of Homes" increased in the past year, said Robert Reardon, chairman of the Board of Assessors to the Belmont Board of Selectmen Monday, Dec. 5. "Location, location, location," explained Richard Simmons, the town's assessing administrator to Selectman Angelo Firenze who expressed surprise that total assessed values in town jumped by a total of $123 million as most US communities have seen prices plummet. Now the bad news; you'll have to dig a bit deeper to have the privledge of living here as the Selectmen approved the Assessors' recommendation to increase the …

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David Chase

3:47 pm on Thursday, December 8, 2011

BC, of course they are going up. Prop 2.5 allows it, and we lost ground for many years, resulting in undermaintained roads, school athletic fees, and cuts. I honestly do not understand the whining. Property taxes are capped at a low growth rate; both federal and state income taxes have been cut. If you don't like it that the potentially regressive property tax is allowed to rise while others have…   more ›