Worcester lowers business property tax rate 5%, narrows gap with residential rate
Photo | Grant Welker
Worcester City Hall
The Worcester City Council voted on property tax rates for 2025 on Tuesday night, with the body setting a business tax rate 4.9% lower than the 2024 rate.
Discussion of the tax rate for 2025 began with District 1 Councilor Jenny Pacillo proposing the council adopt Line 264, which would see a residential rate of $13.19 per $1,000 assessed valuation and a commercial, industrial, and personal property rate of $28.60 per $1,000 assessed valuation.
“Small businesses in the city are hurting, and a competitive commercial tax rate will attract new businesses while helping the existing ones,” said Pacillo, noting this rate would shrink the gap between the residential and business rates. “I believe that [the proposed rate] shows we're working to help our small businesses and bring new folks in.”
[What does 2025 hold for your business and the Central Mass. economy? Take WBJ’s Economic Forecast survey.]
District 3 Councilor George Russell bemoaned the impact of rising tax rates on residential property owners driven by increasing property values, instead suggesting Line 267, which had the lowest residential rate of any of the available options. This rate would see a residential rate of $13.16, and a business rate of $28.74.
“How in the world can we expect property owners to not pass along a 25% increase [to renters], or even a 7% increase?” Russell asked the council.
Despite both suggested tax rates being lower than those from last year, the average residential and commercial property will see an increase in its tax bill, driven by higher property valuations.
Responding to a question from Councilor-at-Large Khrystian King, Assessor Samuel Konieczny noted the average triple-decker apartment in the City would see a $511 increase in its property tax bill at Line 264, whereas Line 267 would result in a $494 increase.
Councilors voted to adopt Pacillo’s suggested Line 264 with a 7 to 4 vote, with Councilors Etel Haxhiaj, Thu Nguyen, Russell, and King opposed.
With Line 264 adopted, the average Worcester residential property will see a tax bill of $5,266, a 3.21% increase, while the average commercial property will see a bill of $36,207, a 0.39% increase.
Eric Casey is the managing editor at Worcester Business Journal, who primarily covers the manufacturing and real estate industries.
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