And it continues...

So, Lynn taxes are going up AGAIN. it just seems crazy to me. an average homeowner will see an increase of $166. A condo owner will see an increase of $100.

As it is I pay almost $2K and I only own a very, very small condo. Lynn wants to attract people to live in the city and own in the city, but keeps jacking up taxes.

I think it's worse that the taxes keep going up. in my case, I dont get any services from the city as the city requires condo associations and commercial building owners provide trash pick up. So condo owners, being lucky, get to pay twice. The only thing I could get from my fees is schooling, but I dont have any kids.

can someone give the owners a break? I can't wait to move out of this city.


http://www.itemlive.com/articles/2007/12/12/news/news03.txt

Tax hikes big and small in Lynn


By Robin Kaminski / The Daily Item

LYNN - Fiscal Year 2008 property values were approved Tuesday by the City Council, indicating a modest rise in taxes for homeowners and a significant increase for both commercial and industrial properties.

According to Director of Assessing Peter Caron, the Fiscal Year 2008 tax rate for single family homes has been set at $10.98, up from $10.40 in Fiscal Year 2007, equaling an increase of $166 per household.

Condominium owners will shell out an extra $101 for their tax bills, while multi-family owners will pay an extra $129.

The biggest increase will affect the commercial and industrial owners with an increase of $1,037 for commercial properties and $1,384 for industrial properties.

"Commercial and industrial values increased significantly because the market is strong and the values consistently go up," he said. "We'll be seeing a tax burden shift back to commercial properties now versus residential, which have gone up the past seven years or so."

Caron said the commercial increase is mainly due to an increase of smaller commercial properties, primarily due to $34.2 million in new reported personal property assets. The city is currently in a re-certification year, which means the state is auditing the process and re-evaluating property values for 2008.

Due to the real estate market flux, Caron said taxpayers should not compare their property value to recent property sales.

"It's important to note that current real estate values will not be assessed until 2009," he said. "But for the most part, residential values remained stable and, in actuality, the average single home values have gone down."

Caron said residents have a primary misconception that their tax rates go up because their property values increase, however, he said the increase is mainly due to three factors: municipal spending, classification and valuation.
"The tax rate simply adjusts to correct the amount of money needed to support the city," he said. "Individual valuations determine each property owner's proportionate share of the total tax levy."

According to Caron, property values reflect activity as of Jan. 1, 2007, using 2006 sales and the major decline seen in the residential market will be addressed for Fiscal Year 2009.

While the residential factor was approved Tuesday, Caron said the budgeting numbers would most likely be approved and made official within 10 days.


Reader Comments

Comments so far on this story:

MOVED BECAUSE OF LYNN TAXES wrote on Dec 12, 2007 12:48 PM:

" okay, lets do this, lets look and see all the people in city hall, then lets see what they are paying on property taxes "the gang" let see, i think this would pan out....good "



george wrote on Dec 12, 2007 11:07 AM:

" What this article is not telling you is that the MAJORITY of property Assessment in Lynn have gone up for 2008 , So the increase is not $166 per household. Assessments came out 2 weeks ago. The $166 is based on 2007 Assessments. Do they really think that people that live in Lynn are morons, "



C. wrote on Dec 12, 2007 9:41 AM:

" so we keep getting our taxes jacked higher and higher, while the hacks in City Hall get raises.. this makes no sense.. instead of the item wasting paper space and writing about a drug addicted loser cop, why don't u do an investigation on how many hacks are working in City Hall.. start w/ Chipster!! "



Integrity wrote on Dec 12, 2007 9:38 AM:

" I've said it so many times. There was an election. Where was everyone? "



bill wrote on Dec 12, 2007 8:48 AM:

" What the hell is going on in city hall? More property taxes???? property values have been going lower four the past 3 years know and these idiots are still raiseing our taxes?? time for a revolution. "