Williamstown Fire District Panel Talks Station Tax Impact
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — With fewer than three weeks left until a special Fire District meeting to decide whether to build a new station on Main Street, a district committee Thursday talked publicly for the first time about the potential property tax implications.
Jeffrey Thomas, the chair of the district's Community Advisory Committee, walked his members through four different bond payment scenarios at Thursday's hybrid meeting of the committee.
Based on numbers Thomas presented, the property tax bill for a single-family home with a median value of $358,600 would go up by between $319 and $351 over the life of a 25-year bond, depending on how the debt repayment is structured.
Thomas presented four repayment scenarios that district officials will have to choose from if a bond authorization vote succeeds at the Feb. 28 special district meeting.
The options ranged from an "equal principal payment" scenario, where the district would pay back the same percentage of the principal each year but interest payments are larger on the front end to a "level debt service" scenario that keeps the bond repayment steady over the life of the 25-year bond.
All four scenarios assumed the district would deliver a building with a cost not to exceed $22.5 million, as previously agreed to by the Prudential Committee, which governs the district, a separate taxing authority apart from the rest of town government.
All four scenarios also accounted for the $5 million gift from Williams College, which will ultimately reduce how much of the $22.5 million needs to be funded through bonding. Thomas' numbers did not assume the district's success in its request that the town's Select Board allocate up to $1 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds to the station project.
In terms of the annual property tax rate, Thomas' numbers showed taxpayers would see increases in the tax rate on average of 89 cents per $1,000 $100,000 of assessed value to 94 cents per $1,000 $100,000 during the 25-year life of the bond.
Where that average lands depends on how much debt repayment gets front-loaded. In one scenario, for example, the rate would spike at $1.38 per $1,000 $100,000 in the first year of the loan and then taper off.
Voters will be asked on Feb. 28 at 7 p.m. at Williamstown Elementary School whether to authorize the bonding needed to build a new station. The question will need a two-thirds majority in the affirmative in order to move forward.
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