Worcester council to debate tax rate split

Destination Worcester via Flickr The City Council is set to debate the property tax rate at City Hall on Dec. 13.

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Correction: A previous version of this story said that the Worcester City Council would debate the tax rate at their meeting tonight. The meeting will take place on Dec. 13.

The Worcester City Council is set to debate the city’s tax rate split at their meeting on the 13th, with the Worcester chamber pushing to have the commercial rate lessened.

The conversation over the city’s tax rates will include a continued effort by the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce to move the city towards a single tax rate. After extended debate last year, the council voted to increase the portion paid by commercial land owners.

The vote last December set the residential tax rate at $20.61 per $1,000 of valuation and the commercial-industrial rate at $33.98. This was in contrast to rates of $20.99 and $33.04 that had been endorsed by the chamber. The chamber is pushing this year for a split of $19.94 for residents and $31.19 for businesses, which would correspond to a $187 increase to the median residential bill and a savings of $154 to the median commercial tax bill.

Stuart Loosemore, general counsel and director of Government Affairs and Public Policy for the chamber, said that the organization is pushing to make the move in a slow, methodical manner that will ultimately benefit everyone if it can bring more jobs to the area.

“It’s jobs. It’s stability," Loosemore said. “Growing the tax base is going to be the quickest way to drop people’s bills.”

The council will debate the rate split at their meeting set to take place at 7 p.m. at City Hall.