Why are Duxbury and Norwell prop taxes so high?

[Parsec]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

I am no expert, but as a Norwell resident I've been scratching my head about the astronomically high tax rate when compared to neighboring towns.

Duxbury I can somewhat understand--it has essentially no commercial base, so the bulk of the tax burden falls on residents. And Duxbury is a pretty spread-out town with a relatively low population density. More dense than Norwell, but less dense than, say, Cohasset. So that puts some pressure on taxes as well.

Norwell has a bigger commercial base than Duxbury, but our taxes are higher. I've always assumed that it's because of our small population (10K). But Cohasset has even fewer people with a small commercial tax base and they have a lower rate...granted, it's also geographically smaller so there is less to "maintain", but still. I assume that because the median home value is much higher, residents are simply paying more overall despite the lower rate.

Hingham has the lowest rate around here, I believe, but they have a strong commercial base and it's a more dense town with a higher population and a high median home value, which must all work in its favor.

I know that since we bought our house in 2010, our property taxes have gone up 26% with no major changes to our home (other than annual maintenance). Had I realized just how much we'd be paying in taxes, I may have crossed Norwell off of the list.

It has little to do with how much land there is to "maintain." Every town's largest expense category is the school budget. 42.2% of households in Norwell have children under 18 versus 36.4% for Cohasset. More kids to educate = higher taxes. FWIW Sudbury has the highest percentage of households with children under 18 in MA at 51.1% and our taxes are also among the highest in MA (avg tax bill is $12,020/year for FY2016).

[NewfieMama]

Originally Posted by Parsec

It has little to do with how much land there is to "maintain." Every town's largest expense category is the school budget. 42.2% of households in Norwell have children under 18 versus 36.4% for Cohasset. More kids to educate = higher taxes. FWIW Sudbury has the highest percentage of households with children under 18 in MA at 51.1% and our taxes are also among the highest in MA (avg tax bill is $12,020/year for FY2016).

Good to know, thanks!

[Amanda333]

FWIW I'm in a suburb of Boston where homes are reassessed every 7 years. If you aren't home - and don't call them back (they leave multiple letters) - I've noticed that they assume you've done alot of upgrades inside and jack up your assessment 10% to 15%.

You can file a tax abatement request once you own the house (during a specified time period each year), if you think the tax valuation is higher than fair market value (for any reason - perhaps the person wasn't home for the re-evaluation, or perhaps market prices have fallen). Sometimes it goes well, and they agree with you and just lower your assessment (and, thus, tax due), other times people hire lawyers (when alot of money is at stake). HTH.

[dearmschris]

Thanks everyone. I wondered if Norwell and Duxbury had a smaller commercial tax base. I also thought that Scituate and Hingham as well as Cohasset would have a smaller tax base so it still wasn't making much sense to me!

[robr2]

Originally Posted by Amanda333

FWIW I'm in a suburb of Boston where homes are reassessed every 7 years. If you aren't home - and don't call them back (they leave multiple letters) - I've noticed that they assume you've done alot of upgrades inside and jack up your assessment 10% to 15%.

You can file a tax abatement request once you own the house (during a specified time period each year), if you think the tax valuation is higher than fair market value (for any reason - perhaps the person wasn't home for the re-evaluation, or perhaps market prices have fallen). Sometimes it goes well, and they agree with you and just lower your assessment (and, thus, tax due), other times people hire lawyers (when alot of money is at stake). HTH.

Um, no. The state requires complete revaluation every 3 years. Most towns do interim revaluations every year based on sales data. As for their assuming upgrades, that is possible. They know how often kitchen and baths are renovated by national statistics and will apply those statistics to the value. They can tell if the roof is new and if the furnace was recently replaced.

[mdovell]

Originally Posted by robr2

Um, no. The state requires complete revaluation every 3 years. Most towns do interim revaluations every year based on sales data. As for their assuming upgrades, that is possible. They know how often kitchen and baths are renovated by national statistics and will apply those statistics to the value. They can tell if the roof is new and if the furnace was recently replaced.

Just like the idea of hiding anything is long gone. I know a guy that tried to angle off a shed he made so it couldn't be seen directly from the road. Google maps proved that wrong!

[n1ey]

Originally Posted by vtecluder617

More than likely the excellent school systems.

It isn't true. You will find 8000 in towns such as Abington for the comparable house. Some towns cost more. They have a higher budget compared to other towns. 2 1/2 actually has a "cap." So, towns can not recklessly accelerate faster than the normal.

If your town has approved a 2 1/2 over ride during each of the past few years, then expect a much larger budget than the budget found in Westport.

[n1ey]

Originally Posted by NewfieMama

Norwell taxes are $16.50 per $1K, so a property assessed at $450 - $500K will be taxed between $7,425 and $8,250. The average tax bill for Norwell is $9,138 this year. Duxbury taxes are $15.60 per $1K, so a property assessed at $450 - $500K will be taxed between $7,020 and $7,800. Compare this to Hingham's property tax of $12.53 where the taxes would run $5950 - $6265 per year.

Size of the plot is incorporated in the property assessment. And the assessment will likely be pretty close to the OP's budget of $475k - $500K, so the amount of land is already a part of the equation.

You understand the actual mechanics. Whereas other posters do not. Land size does not contribute to the overall price as much as building value.

You are actually measuring the relative inefficiency of the management.

There can be other factors such as as different amounts of total highway mileage. One town might actually have less road mileage. However, you will find that Norwell and Duxbury have similar road mileage.

The school system does not radically increase in cost just because there are more kids in town. It depends on the demographics. More younger children equals higher building costs. Plus, it depends if you want newer elementary schools. Look at Newton. They do not have many newer buildings in use for 1-5 grades. My old town has not built an elementary school for 75+ years. Yet, it is building a high school to replace a high school, which was considered to be in excess of many actual needs; the high school population of any given year was generally 100 students smaller than the 3rd grade population.

Bill