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To the Editor:
I’d like to thank Select Board members Karen Herrick and Mark Dockser for standing up for Reading’s homeowners in the setting of the property tax rates on Tuesday evening. They voted for tax rates that would have increased the typical homeowner’s tax bill by $326 (3.4%) and the typical commercial property owner’s tax bill by $379 (3.8%). However, this was voted down by the other three Select Board members.
The Select Board ultimately approved tax rates that will increase the typical homeowner’s tax bill by $360 (3.7%) while REDUCING the typical commercial property owner’s tax bill by $69 (-0.7%). Herrick and Dockser voted against these tax rates.
This dramatic difference in the change in residential versus commercial tax bills strikes me as unfair. It’s particularly unfair given that in the previous 12 years, the typical homeowner’s tax bill had gone up almost 60% (about 5% per year) while the typical commercial property owner’s tax bill had gone up only 12.6% (about 1% per year).
I applaud Herrick and Dockser for voting for a fairer distribution of Reading’s property tax burden, even though they didn’t prevail in the final vote.
Sincerely,
John Lippitt
Mineral Street
