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The Greater Haverhill Chamber of Commerce is asking its members to take a position on the way taxes are proportioned between homeowners and commercial, industrial and personal property owners when councilors meet tonight to assign property tax rates.
As WHAV reported Monday, if councilors maintain a 165% proportion for commercial and industrial properties, Assessor Christine M. Webb notes property taxes for the average single-family homeowner will rise $180 annually, while average commercial property tax bills decrease by $133 and average industrial property decrease by $284. The single-family average is based on a home valuation of $501,431 and a tax bill of $5,334 if nothing changes.
Haverhill Chamber President and CEO Alexandria Eberhardt said Monday, “Each year, the Chamber speaks on behalf of our businesses to help maintain or lower the tax rate for our businesses in the city of Haverhill. We will do so again tomorrow night! This allows both our current and future businesses to save on taxes and be able to allocate those funds in other ways—further hires, business expansion, professional development for employees and philanthropy,” she said.
Meanwhile, Eberhardt’s counterpart at the Merrimack Valley Chamber of Commerce took a contrary stance in his role as a Haverhill city councilor.
City Councilor Joseph J. Bevilacqua said in a statement, “Last year, this City Council burdened the home owners with the highest residential tax increase in decades. I ask the Council tonight reduce the residential tax rate to the lowest option to ensure both senior citizens and young working families can afford to live in Haverhill, and not move as the Council president said last year.”
The Haverhill City Council meets tonight at 7, in-person at the Theodore A. Pelosi Jr. Council Chambers, room 202, Haverhill City Hall, 4 Summer St. As a public service, 97.9 WHAV plans to carry the meeting live.