HADLEY — Residential taxpayers will face a bigger jump in their tax bills in the coming year after town officials minimized the increase last year by shifting more of the tax burden to commercial properties.

With the Select Board deciding to return to a single tax rate for all property classes, the average homeowner, living in a home valued at $418,800, will pay $4,832, a $364 or 8.2% increase over the $4,468 the average homeowner paid this year.

The board approved the recommendation from Assessor Dan Zdonek to do away with the two-tier property tax structure and return to a residential tax factor of 1.

Even with the change, Hadley is expected to have lower taxes than neighboring communities. This year’s average $4,468 tax bill for the 1,687 single-family homes in Hadley was less than the average $6,303 tax bill in Northampton and the average $8,609 tax bill in Amherst.

The tax rate for all properties is estimated to go down to $11.54 per $1,000 valuation, from $12.18 per $1,000 valuation for residential properties this year. Commercial properties’ tax rate had been set at $13.45 per $1,000 valuation.

The average tax bill for commercial properties will rise from $9,237 to $9,379, a $142 or 1.54% increase.

Zdonek said average commercial values have rebounded after being depressed due to the pandemic, going from $765,900 in fiscal 2021 to $686,800 last year, but up to $812,794 in fiscal year 2023. He said there is also evidence the town is slowly getting back to a preferred mix of having about a third of the tax burden covered by commercial properties.

Residential valuations are way up, though, from $366,800 last year. He said such a 14% overall increase is “pretty much unheard of.”

Such a big increase in home valuations was not anticipated when the assessors recommended the split tax rate a year ago, Zdonek said. The Select Board at that time voted 3-2 in favor of the split tax rate for the first time, becoming the lone Hampshire County community to adopt the practice.

Zdonek said residents’ first quarterly bill, due Feb. 1, will be an average of about $180 more that last year, as will the tax bills due May 1.

Scott Merzbach can be reached at smerzbach@gazettenet.com.]]>