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Dear Reading Taxpayers,
If you own a house in Reading, vote on or before April 4 for Karen Herrick for re-election to the Select Board. She is the only candidate who will protect you from excessive residential tax increases which are the result of the current lopsided tax policy.
Herrick supports businesses in a number of ways, detailed below. Reading’s current tax policy is out of whack with nearby towns. Our commercial tax rate is just $13.21/$1,000. Compare that to the rates in “neighboring communities” (as defined in the Town Assessor’s report in the 10/25/22 Select Board packet, all data from Town Assessor):
- Lynnfield – 19.32
- No. Reading – 15.00
- Stoneham – 19.81
- Wakefield – 23.77
- Wilmington – 30.06
- Woburn – 22.77
For example, this means the Home Depot in Danvers pays a commercial tax rate of $19.98 while the Home Depot in Reading pays $13.21. In effect, residential taxpayers in Reading cover this gap.
To understand just how stark your choices are on April 4, consider the tax adjustment approved by the Select Board last October. The result was that the median commercial tax bill went up $53.00, while the average single-family tax bill went up $335.00. Yet Select Board members Carlo Bacci and Chris Haley opposed even this miniscule increase for businesses. Select Board candidate Melissa Murphy, who wants to unseat Herrick, has made clear she would have done the same: “I would vote not to increase the percentage for businesses,” she said at a recent debate. Bacci and Haley instead sought a $248.00 cut to the median commercial tax bill, while supporting an even greater increase to the average residential tax bill.
Thankfully, the modest change in residents’ favor passed in October because Karen Herrick was sitting on the Select Board, making a majority vote with Mark Dockser and Jackie McCarthy.
Candidates Bacci and Murphy want voters to believe that any tax increase is a hardship for small businesses. As residents, we would be thrilled if our taxes only went up $53.00. The tax policy supported by Herrick’s opponents is tone-deaf to residents, especially retired senior citizens, who have serious and legitimate concerns about rising taxes and cost of living increases.
Karen Herrick is very supportive of small businesses. She supported no additional tax shift to commercial properties during the height of the pandemic, voting only for the small shift last
year, mentioned above. She voted to cut restaurant alcohol license fees by 50% during the pandemic.
Herrick believes in making Reading affordable for all residents and she supports a fair distribution of tax burden between residents and businesses. Her approach is based on years of experience on the Finance Committee, other related boards, and 20+ years voting on Town budgets as a Town Meeting member. She will continue to advocate for you, the residential property owner, from disproportionate property tax increases.
Join us in voting for Karen Herrick for re-election to the Reading Select Board on or before April 4.
Michael McSweeney, Orchard Park
Dr. Bret and Corri Ogburn, Mineral St.
Rick Shaffer, Woburn St.
Julie C. Ross, Kensington Ave.
Christine Monagle Parks, Hancock St.
