Updated, March 3
West Tisbury residents will be seeing around a 25 percent decrease in property tax rates during fiscal year 2023.
The West Tisbury select board jointly held a tax rate classification hearing with the board of assessors on Wednesday, March 1.
West Tisbury principal assessor Mac Anderson said the town received its final certification of values from the state’s Department of Revenue last week. This was a five year recertification period and was the final step before the hearing.
“The state handles most tax policy decisions and decides how taxes, real estate taxes in particular, are handled,” he said. “But, some things are left up to the towns.”
According to the classifications, 97.87 percent of properties in West Tisbury are designated as residential with a collective value of $4.175 billion. West Tisbury’s total property value is valued at $4.355 billion.
Anderson said the town saw a “dramatic” decrease in the tax rate because of a 37.7 percent increase in taxable value. There were several options West Tisbury could take, such as splitting the tax rate between residential and commercial properties, but Anderson recommended just taking a single tax rate considering the dominance of residential properties and the amount of time it would take to properly implement the other options. The single tax rate has been what West Tisbury usually does and it is expected to decrease from $5.82 per $1,000 valuation to $4.36 per $1,000 valuation.
The board unanimously approved a single tax rate.
In other news, the board unanimously Cass Luskin as the municipal hearing officer. Meanwhile, the board unanimously recommended Rise Tierney to the Dukes County Regional Housing Authority as a West Tisbury affordable housing committee representative.
Vineyard Haven residents will be envious because theirs goes up due to the school debacle.
I doubt the bottom line will change
Strange article. Higher valuations created a lower rate. It isn’t like West Tisbury cut the budget! Town spending is likely up a little.
Misleading statement, the rate is going down 25% just means the property values had to go up that much and more to offset the increase of expenses in the current year. Dont plan on your tax bill going down 25% that is not possible. they still need to collect the same amount of revenue and then some.
Agree, or maybe for some it will go up…wait and see.
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