Property Tax Rate Hearing – Oct 7th, 2024

Meeting Link

The council will have a special meeting to review proposed changes in the property tax rate for fiscal year 2025 from the previously approved rate.

Overview

The FY2025 adopted budget is $995.6 million, an increase of 8.1% or $71.8 million over the previous year. The new estimated tax levy to support the budget is $628 million, a 9.21% or $53 million increase from the previous year. This is lower than the original projection due to higher than expected income from other revenue sources and allows for a lower tax rate than originally approved.

Notable Expenditures

• $24.6 million to the Affordable Housing Trust in addition to $17 million from the Community Preservation Act funding for a total of $41.7 million
• $34 million for the Cambridge Preschool Program
• $23 million for a new 3-year teacher contract
• $4.35 million to fund deferred maintenance and other projects to help meet Net Zero and BEUDO targets as part of the Municipal Facilities Improvement Plan (MFIP)
• $101.9 million for debt service
• Funding for street infrastructure repairs and improvements
• $17.3 million ($4.4 million from tax revenue) for “citywide projects; Egov initiatives; and Participatory Budgeting Cycle 10 projects”

Changes from Adopted Budget

The expected required tax levy is $441,352 lower than the adopted levy due higher than expected income from other revenue sources.

Tax Levy Changes	Amount
Projected Property Tax Levy (as Adopted)	$628,830,105
Net Cherry Sheet Change1	$440,783
Increased Non-Property Revenues	($1,075,000)
Overlay Adjustment2	$192,865
Actual Property Tax Levy	$628,388,753

1. The budget, more or less. More info on Cherry Sheets ↩︎
2. The overlay is an account established to fund abatements and exemptions of property ↩︎

Impact

• New residential tax rate: $6.35 per thousand (0.635%), or an increase of 43¢ (7.3%) from last year
• New commercial tax rate: $11.52 per thousand (1.152%), or an increase of $1.06 (10.1%) from last year
• Residents who occupy their property will continue to have a 30% exemption
  • Taxable value abatement: $499,263
  • Tax savings: $3,170

Corrections

The overview previously stated that the budget was $995.6 billion. This was a typo. The actual budget is in the millions, not billions.