Greenfield Tax Rate Reduced By $2.67 Over Last Year

By KENNEDY GRIFFIN

(Greenfield, MA) The City of Greenfield’s property tax rate has been set at $19.65 per thousand dollars of assessed value with approval from the Massachusetts Department of revenue. This is a $2.67 drop from the previous fiscal year, the largest single-year reduction in at least twenty years and the lowest tax rate since 2012.

“This considerable drop in the tax rate is attributable to a variety of factors including increased property values, new growth and $600,000 in ‘free cash’ reserves that I and the City Council felt should be used to reduce the property tax burden,” said Mayor Roxann Wedegartner. “I want to thank Chief Assessor Randy Austin for finding an omission in a recap of property tax bills that allowed us to collect taxes owed by a utility company and reduce the burden for all city taxpayers.”

Greenfield welcomed a new chief assessor, Randy Austin, in April of this year. “A drop in the tax rate this sizable doesn’t happen every day. It’s thanks to prudent planning, fiscal discipline and sticking to the budget,” said Austin. “The new lower rate will help to cushion significantly higher valuations. The average single-family tax bill will increase by $135– a 2.7% increase over last year, and well below the rate of inflation.”

The new rate will be reflected in the third and fourth quarter tax bills coming out next month.