How much is a better Clinton worth to you?

Tonight, the Select Board will cast its most important vote of the year: Setting the annual tax rate for residential and business property owners.

First, some background: In Clinton, where we have a split rate — one for residential property and another for commercial, industrial and personal property (CIP) — setting the tax rate involves deciding how much more the CIP rate will be. The total amount of property taxes raised remains the same. It’s simply a matter of how big a share each group pays.

After many years at the maximum shift, giving artificial relief to homeowners by shifting more of the burden onto business owners, the board began to chip away at the business rate in 2013. In 2018, I chaired a commission to look into the tax split and what might be best for Clinton going forward. 

The board adopted two recommendations from that commission: 

1. Reduce the town’s tax rate split at the rate of 2 percentage points a year until a single rate is achieved. Chipping away at the split would spread out that impact to residential property owners over time, and demonstrate that the town is committed to improving the climate for businesses here. 
2. Continue to expand exemption programs as allowed by law. Publicize the availability of these programs, and the senior work program, to increase participation among those potentially affected by a tax increase.

We’ve continued to stick to that plan, and the tax split now sits at an historic low of 1.50. It’s small but steady progress, a sign to the business community that we understand their part in making Clinton what it is.

Last year, after dramatic increases in property values, the board voted to hit pause on this plan and hold the split at 1.50. We received some great news from our Assessors Office on new growth this past week, and so I was looking forward to returning to our schedule and setting the FY2023 split at 1.48. 

After unanimously approving a reduction every year and mostly without debate, times have apparently changed. A majority of the board now seeks to reverse our course and increase the split again, possibly as high as 1.55.

We’re not elected to make easy decisions. We’re elected to make the right ones.

What does this mean? At my proposed split, the average residential homeowner would see an increase to their tax bill of $70, well below the average annual increase of $131.75 and the lowest increase in more than a decade. In turn, owners of a commercial/industrial parcel of the same value would see a decrease of $49 as we work to close the historical imbalance past boards have burdened us with.

However, under a split that’s increased to 1.55, the average residential homeowner would pay $11 less than last year, while the owner of a business property at the same value would see an astonishing jump of $339.

After five years of welcoming new businesses to town, we’re now going to thank them for choosing Clinton by taxing them 175 percent more for their property than a home of equal value.

It’s always a hard vote to take when you’re raising taxes. But that doesn’t mean lowering the split isn’t a smart vote. We’re not elected to make easy decisions. We’re elected to make the right ones.

Critics will say that the tax rate isn’t a major factor in attracting businesses. It’s certainly not the only factor, but it is a factor we can control. By voting to raise the split, we’ll be losing a key tool from our economic development toolbox. More important, we’ll be sending a message that Clinton is in danger of heading back to the bad old days when petty politics too often trumped good policy. 

Others might say that things have changed in the five years since the board adopted this policy. They’re right: Clinton is a better, stronger town, thanks in part to our reduction of the tax split.

In 2018, we had the 25th highest commercial tax rate in the state. Last year it had dropped to 46th, lower than Berlin, Maynard, Ayer, Worcester and Hudson.

Downtown is alive again, with half as many vacancies as in March 2017 and more new storefronts opening every month. Our town is growing, with total property valuation topping $2 billion for the first time ever. 

And the tax rate is just one part of a bigger story of financial stability and success. We continue to add money to our stabilization account, and last year Moodys raised our municipal bond rating. 

I know times are hard for many. But our commitment to our long-term plan of strengthening and broadening our tax base is worth the sacrifice. Clinton isn’t like other towns in our region. We were built on mills and stores and factories. Business and industry is part of who we are. We would not survive without them.

The bottom line is that Clinton is once again a place where people want to live, work and spend their free time because we were willing to make the hard decisions necessary to put us on this path. We cannot change course now.

If this about-face bothers you as much as it does me, speak up. Tonight’s hearing is the first item on the agenda and will start just after 7 p.m. Come and have your voice heard. Or email us today at selectmen@clintonma.gov. Every voice counts.