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Lara
Jan 12, 2017

Taxes, taxes everywhere…

The good news is that both Cambridge and Somerville once again lowered their tax rates for fiscal year 2017 while also increasing their residential exemptions. On the flip side, assessed values for homes went up, so it may be a wash. Following are the new taxes for each city, along with some other pertinent info:


CAMBRIDGE

  • The FY2017 tax rate is $6.49 per $1,000 of your home’s assessed value (down from $6.99 in FY2016)

  • The residential exemption will effectively discount your bill by $2,046 (up from $1,943)

If you bought a new home in Cambridge last year, and were living there as of January 1 this year, you will need to apply for the residential exemption for FY2018 — the deadline is January 18 — don’t forget! Here’s a link to the application form. (In case you’re wondering what happens during FY2017, you will be grandfathered in under the status of the previous owner — so if he/she had the residential exemption in place, it will carry over this year.)


And in case you’re interested, here are some fun facts about Cambridge property taxes:

  • About 66% of the City’s operating budget ($574.6 million for FY2017) is paid for by property taxes

  • Commercial properties typically account for about 2/3 of the total property taxes

  • MIT is the City’s #1 taxpayer, covering about 12.79% of the total tax levy (Harvard is #5, paying ~ 1.48%)

Cambridge has put together a couple very informative newsletters if you want more info on the City’s budget and property taxes — here are links:


Somerville City Hall

SOMERVILLE

  • The FY2017 tax rate is $11.67 per $1,000 of your home’s assessed value (down from $12.53 in FY2016)

  • The residential exemption will effectively discount your bill by $2,747 (up from $2,624)

Somerville is on a different cycle, so if you bought a home there in 2016 and occupied it as of January 1 this year, the forms to apply for your residential exemption won’t be available until sometime this summer — you should mark your calendars to check in with the City then so you don’t forget. For now, you’ll be paying under the status of the home’s previous owners, so if they had the exemption, you will too.


And the fun facts for Somerville:

  • Somerville’s residential exemption is already the highest in the state, and the City is exploring ways to increase it by 5% in coming years

  • In FY2017, Somerville had the largest increase in property value growth (via improvements and new construction) ever in it’s history

  • In 2005, there was only ONE million dollar sale in all of Somerville; in 2016 (as of September), there were 80

If you’d like to learn more about the City’s budget and property taxes, here’s a link to their FY2107 Property Tax Update newsletter.


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