Tax bills may rise about twice as much as planned

What happened

On Sept. 30, the business office said the Walt Whitman Mall won a large cut in its assessed value (about $1.1 million) and four properties moved to payments in lieu of taxes. Total taxable value fell to about $40.2 million from $42.1 million. The board took up a lower school tax levy of about $131.3 million, $1.25 million less than planned in April. The estimated tax-rate increase is now about 6.4%, up from about 3% shown when the budget was adopted.

Why it matters to families

Other homeowners pay the share that the mall and those properties no longer pay. Tax bills arriving in December could be much higher than the spring budget mailer showed, even though the district stayed within the state tax cap.

The evidence

In the Sept. 30 recording, the Assistant Superintendent for Business showed the town's assessment letters, a levy cut of $1,247,672, and a rate increase near 6.4% versus 3% at budget adoption; a board member summarized it as roughly double. The Sept. 16 meeting gave an early warning. Captions are auto-generated, so check figures against the district's posted slides.

The source