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It’s Christmas time at Town Hall! Saugus welcomes the holiday season tonight with its Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony and Festivities. Santa’s arrival expected at 7 p.m. By Mark E. Vogler
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New tax rates set On the average, homeowners will pay $459 more; businesses $2,819 more, under plan approved by selectmen for FY2019
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Friday, November 30, 2018
By Mark E. Vogler
Tis the season to celebrate at Town Hall! Thousands of town residents -- from toddlers to senior citizens -- are expected to congregate at Saugus Center tonight (Friday, Nov. 30) as the town officially kicks off the holiday season with its annual Tree Lighting Ceremony and Festivities.
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MAKE WAY FOR SAINT NICK! Santa Claus gets an escort up the front sidewalk of Saugus Town Hall during last year’s Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony and Festivities. Santa is scheduled to make a similar, merry entrance at about 7 o’clock tonight (Friday, Nov. 30) as the town officially welcomes in the holiday season. The program gets underway at 5 p.m., with a full two hours of family-oriented events for children. (Saugus Advocate file photo by Mark E. Vogler)
CHRISTMAS TIME | SEE PAGE 2
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he owner of an average single-family home in Saugus -- valued at $426,142 -- will pay $459 more in taxes in January. The tax bill for an average commercial property -- valued at $1,450,917 -- will increase by $2,819. Those scenarios will take effect as a result of the new tax rates for the 2019 fiscal year approved unanimously last week by the Board of Selectmen. “Your tax bill is going to go up because of debt exclusion,” Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree said, referring to the overwhelming town vote to borrow $118-million last year for a new Saugus Middle-High School. Crabtree noted that last year, the tax rates decreased because of an increase in valuation. But this year, many property owners will notice a sizeable hike in their taxes because of the borrowing on the school project. Once again, selectmen followed their past practice of recent years by adopting a plan calculating the lowest possible residential factor -- a plan that would tax commercial, industrial and personal (CIP) property at a maximum share of the tax levy for the 2019 fiscal year at 175 percent. Overall, residential tax rates for the average single family home in Saugus increased from $11.58 for $1,000 of assessed valuation to $12.18 --
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Commercial development spurs new growth The average commercial property value of $1,407,060 increased to $1,450,917. The current average commercial property tax bill of $34,587 is projected to increase to $37,404, according to the Board of Assessors report. The town has borrowed $65-million on the school project so far and will wind up borrowing $118-million. “One of the things we’re looking at now is borrowing the rest of it,” Crabtree told selectmen last week. “There’s more risk if the rates increase and we borrow later,” Crabtree said. “We’re probably looking at borrowing sooner than later,” he said. The town manager cautioned residents not to be overly optimistic about the immediate fi-
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a 60-cent or 5.18 percent increase. The value of the average single family home for the 2018 fiscal year is expected to increase by $17,572 from $408,570. The current average residential tax bill of $4,731.24 will increase to a projected $5,190, according to the report compiled by the Board of Assessors, assisted by Deputy Assessor Ronald J. Keohan Jr. and Assistant Deputy Assessor Tamara Sands. Overall, CIP tax rates in Saugus increased from $24.58 for $1,000 of assessed valuation to $25.78 -- a $1.20 or 4.88 percent increase.
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