Framingham selectmen shift tax burden off businesses
While it maintained its split real estate tax rate, the Framingham Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday night to shift some of the tax burden off commercial and industrial property owners in a bid to make the town appear more business-friendly.
Town Manager Robert Halpin said the move is part of a three-year plan to make taxation more equitable for businesses in order to reduce the perception that Framingham isn’t an ideal place to do business.
With a residential tax rate of $17.39, residents will see their tax bills increase by an average of $30, a smaller rate of increase than residents saw in recent years; in 2012, the average tax bill for a Framingham resident increased 11 percent.
But by shifting the tax burden onto businesses by a factor 1.71, compared with 1.74 last year, the rate of increase for businesses will also decrease significantly, with the average commercial/industrial tax bill totaling $39.
Before last year, Framingham had shifted the maximum amount of the tax burden allowed by law on businesses at a factor of 1.75.
On Thursday, Halpin said this year’s shift has generated a “tremendous” response from the business community. If Framingham had a single tax rate, commercial and industrial property owners would make up 23 percent of the tax base, Halpin said. At the current dual rate, they generate 40 percent of the base, Halpin said, and the plan is to hold the line at that figure for three years.
“We have a three year plan of … moving off the shift and making it a more business friendly tax structure,” Halpin said.
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