Jennifer, Agricultural land gets highly preferential tax treatment under Chapter 61A of the Massachusetts General Law https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleIX/Chapter61A This is an exception to the highest and best use generally used for assessments and appraisals to prevent all farms being subdivided into residential properties.
Fortunately our good neighbors of Bolton do a break out of their property taxes by use https://www.townofbolton.com/sites/g/files/vyhlif2836/f/uploads/boltonassessmentbrochure2022.pdf All agricultural land is valued at a combined $1.1M, which accounts for 0.09% of the town's total $1.2B assessed taxable property value. There is no reason we cannot compare our taxes to other farming towns. As the analysis below shows, land put to agricultural use is virtually tax exempt. Our high taxes are due to policy decisions exogenous to our land use. On Mon, Nov 28, 2022 at 2:27 PM Jennifer Saffran <[email protected]> wrote: > Regarding “open space”, I am more familiar with one of these towns—Bolton. > Bolton has a number of commercial farms and orchards. So, while it appears > that there is open space, it’s taxable land. I do not know what the tax > rate for working farms are. A quick search shows there are at least 20 > working farms in Bolton. Likewise, Harvard has 19. Therefore, the numbers > may not be so comparable. > > On Nov 28, 2022, at 2:20 PM, Adam M Hogue <[email protected]> wrote: > > Agreed, this chart shows it the best. Towns with our population generally > do not have a large community center because they do not have the tax base > or population to support it. > > *Adam M Hogue* > *Cell: **(978) 828-6184 <(978)%20828-6184>* > > On Nov 28, 2022, at 2:12 PM, Karla Gravis <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Hi Rich, > > While the hypothesis you presented seems reasonable, the facts show > otherwise. If you look at the site you just linked, there are many Greater > Boston Area towns in that list with lower population density than Lincoln, > lots of open space, very little commercial base AND* much lower property > taxes. *None of the towns in the table below are contemplating a $25M > Community Center. > > Note: I have taken the population and density data from the site you > linked and the average property tax rate is from the Department of Revenue > https://dlsgateway.dor.state.ma.us/reports/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=AverageSingleTaxBill.SingleFamTaxBill_wRange > > <image.png> > > On Mon, Nov 28, 2022 at 1:04 PM Rich Rosenbaum <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> There has been a bit of discussion regarding LIncoln's property taxes >> compared to other towns. One reason taxes may be higher than similar towns >> is our low housing density. >> >> Lincoln has consciously and deliberately limited density with land >> acquisition, zoning regulations, agricultural easements and more. >> >> The result is that there are fewer houses to distribute fixed costs. If >> you have two similar towns with the same number of miles of road, the less >> housing-dense town will pay more per family to maintain those roads. The >> same goes for many other services provided by the town. >> >> All of this wonderful open space that we all enjoy is not free. >> >> ------------------------------ >> Here are some statistics from this site >> <http://zipatlas.com/us/ma/city-comparison/population-density.htm> (not >> sure of the date but I assume it does not change quickly): >> >> *Town Population / sq. mile* >> Bedford 926.37 >> Wayland 819.52 >> Sudbury 683.63 >> Weston 664.03 >> Concord 656.11 >> Lincoln 359.11 >> >> Our limited commercial base is also a factor. >> >> >> >> >> -- >> The LincolnTalk mailing list. >> To post, send mail to [email protected]. >> Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. >> Browse the archives at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. >> Change your subscription settings at >> https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >> >> -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/ > . > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. > > >
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