Residential Land Lowered in Value

The assessed value of much of Cambridge residential property dropped in fiscal year 1990 possibly leading to a decrease in overall property tax revenue this year, the head of the city's director of taxation said at a City Council hearing last night.

Director of Taxation Sally Powers told councillors that results from tax assessments for this fiscal year--which began July I--showed that the value of residential property dropped from last year's values, although commercial assessments rose.

In addition, residential property will be taxed at a rate of $9.50 per 10,000 feet, up $.27 from last year, while commercial and industrial property will be levied at $18.17 per 10,000 feet, down $1.87 from last fiscal year, according to a report by City Manager Robert W. Healy released at last night's hearing.

But despite the increase in the residential rate, more taxpayers will see a decrease than an increase in their assessed values, according to the report. "For FY 1990, residential property owners as a class will pay a lower percentage of the total tax levy than they have at any point in the City's history," Healy wrote. Healy noted that two out of three local tax dollars spent by Cambridge will come from commercial property owners this fiscal year.

But Healy warned that the coming decade could prove to be a difficult financial period for Cambridge. "Now as we enter a new decade, the City finds itself in a transitional period. The slow down of the local economy means that the City can no longer depend upon continued increases in state aid and increased tax levy limits due to new construction, two factors that contributed greatly to the financial strength of the 1980s. If the trend of the past 12 months continues, and there is no indication that it won't, the City and our citizens will be faced with difficult choices in the coming years."

Tax Laws

In 1984, changes in state law allowed Cambridge to tax commercial and residential property at different rates. Although the city reassesses property values each year, it revalues them once every three years, relying on trend calculations to determine values in the interim.

Fiscal 1990 was a full revaluation year, and reassessment of all city real estate found the total value of taxable property to be $8, $516, $263, $200, according to the report. The report also said the value was a 16 percent increase over last year, despite a slowing and decline in residential values. Commercial values increased by an average of 23 percent, Healy wrote.