A word or two about Cambridge property tax increases
There’s a phrase that the Cambridge City Administration has been including in its annual “Dear Residents and Taxpayers of Cambridge” mailing for years that goes something like this: “For FY23, 80% of residential taxpayers will see a reduction, no increase, or an increase of less than $250.” This phrase used to end with “or an increase of less than $100”, but I suppose the percentages are much more appealing with the change. One might actually be led to believe that the tax levy is going down based on the initial reading of this annual message. In fact, this year (FY23) the tax levy went up by 7.4%, and the increases in recent years were 4.7%, 7.85%, 6.9%, 5.3%, and 3.8% (reverse chronologically). Much of the tax increases were picked up by commercial properties due to tax classification and City’s tax policy decisions, but the residential tax burden has certainly been on the rise.
One major source of confusion in the competing narratives of “80% of residential taxpayers will see a reduction…” and the “the tax levy went up by 7.4%” comes down to the fact that condominiums now comprise a very large percentage of residential tax bills, and condo owners have been getting a pretty sweet deal while much of the burden has shifted onto single-, two- and three-family property owners (as well as new residential buildings). Here’s a chart showing the median annual changes in residential tax bills (including the residential exemption) over the last 15 years:
| Median Annual Tax Increases – Cambridge | ||||
| Tax Year | condo | single-family | two-family | three-family |
| FY2009 | $ 18 | $ 40 | $ 24 | $ 72 |
| FY2010 | $ 69 | $ 119 | $ 47 | $ 41 |
| FY2011 | $ 77 | $ 306 | $ 132 | $ 154 |
| FY2012 | $ 60 | $ 269 | $ 177 | $ 215 |
| FY2013 | $ 65 | $ 159 | $ 80 | $ 85 |
| FY2014 | – $ 38 | $ 109 | $ 110 | $ 201 |
| FY2015 | $ 15 | $ 11 | $ 334 | $ 253 |
| FY2016 | – $ 18 | $ 64 | $ 101 | $ 217 |
| FY2017 | $ 11 | $ 324 | $ 237 | $ 336 |
| FY2018 | $ 76 | $ 136 | $ 33 | $ 61 |
| FY2019 | $ 21 | $ 124 | $ 292 | $ 469 |
| FY2020 | $ 43 | $ 449 | $ 366 | $ 369 |
| FY2021 | $ 3 | $ 246 | $ 131 | $ 218 |
| FY2022 | $ 33 | $ 545 | $ 301 | $ 335 |
| FY2023 | – $ 107 | $ 419 | $ 269 | $ 379 |
| 5 year average | – $ 1.40 | $ 356.60 | $ 271.80 | $ 354.00 |
| 10 year average | $ 3.90 | $ 242.70 | $ 217.40 | $ 283.80 |
| 15 year average | $ 21.87 | $ 221.33 | $ 175.60 | $ 227.00 |
| current number of properties | 14841 | 3910 | 2292 | 1168 |
As you can see from these figures, it’s the large number of condominiums (nearly 15,000) that enables the City to declare that “80% of residential taxpayers will see a reduction, no increase, or an increase of less than $250.” For owners of single-, two-, and three-family homes, the story is quite different – especially during the last 5 years. Indeed, this year is the sweetest deal of all for condo owners. This year’s median change for condo owners is a reduction of $107, while it’s increases of $419 for a single-family, $269 for a two-family, and $379 for a three-family.
Shades of the time you got your FY2005 tax bill and Cambridge “flipped [you] the bird” on October 30, 2004:
http://rwinters.com/2004notes.htm
You noted there also concerning condo tax bills:
“That same October 18 [2004] report indicated that condominium owners should expect an average decrease in their real estate taxes.”
Nothing was ever really done about this because, at last absent the presence of the perennial punching bag of Rent Control, there were few issues that caught fire anymore with the public and EVERY candidate seized on the excessive property tax as his or her hot-button issue. And more or less, they all said the same things.
Comment by FRED BAKER — November 1, 2022 @ 2:27 pm