GREENFIELD — After all of the commotion last year over a split tax rate, which, at one point, was in fact passed by the City Council but ultimately failed, residents will head into at least one more year with a single tax rate.
The tax rate, currently set at $22.43 for every thousand dollars of assessed value to a resident’s property, was not a chief talking point of the Greenfield City Council this year as the legislative body juggled a host of other issues, including debates regarding the overall state of the city’s finances and the credibility of the mayor who may or may not made decisions that led to the current debacle.
Similar to the tenure of the six months since forming a split tax rate committee to study on whether in fact the move to charge residential and commercial property owners differently, Tuesday night’s council meeting moved through the tax rate conversation quickly. Instead, the hours of conversation were dictated by debate over whether to fund the depleted inspection departments and on who was to blame for the city’s money not being bonded last year.
The city, under the guidance of a new finance director who is less than a month into the job, will now work to balance the books, in according with state law, and work toward setting what this coming year’s tax rate will be.
Councilors on both sides of the aisle have wondered, and at times warned, what may happen to the city’s finances and tax rate if the council continues to agree to additional public works projects. The parking garage was just completed, the public safety complex was voted down in September and the discussion around borrowing for a new library has heated up before a Dec. 13 public hearing.
The tax rate has risen by 28 percent in the last decade, bottoming at $17.50 per $1,000 in the 2008 and peaking to $22.51 in 2014. It has decreased three times out of the last 10 years, most recently between 2015 and 2017.
The split tax rate committee never quite got going, despite the high-level of public interest in studying whether it would in fact be beneficial for the local economy and current families.
Last year around this time, a long, drawn out community debate centered around whether the split tax would happen. On two separate occasions last November the council were ready to vote in a split tax rate, but a veto by Mayor William Martin and a special meeting in December ultimately voted it down, 6-4, two votes short of succeeding.
You can reach Joshua Solomon at:
jsolomon@recorder.com
413-772-0261, ext. 264