BCAT News

The Burlington Select Board on Monday approved a 4.38 percent increase to the average residential tax bill for the 2025 fiscal year, amounting to an increase of $284 per year for the average taxpayer. 

Under the approved “Option B,” presented by Assessor Paul Tierney, the residential tax rate will be $8.66, bringing the total annual property tax bill to about $6,772, while the average commercial rate will be $25.48. 

Assistant Town Administrator John Danizio reminded the Select Board this is the final step in the annual budgeting process. In May, Town Meeting approved the budget for FY25, which began on July 1 of 2024. The assessors then set the value of all the properties in town and presented to the Select Board a variety of options that would bring in enough revenue to support the previously passed budget. 

The selected option was the scenario with the smallest possible increase to consumers; other options could have raised the average tax bill by $311, $315 or $346. (Another option, presented for illustration purposes only, showed that if Burlington residential taxpayers paid the same rate as its commercial taxpayers, the average tax bill would almost double.)

Select Board Nick Priest said the increase was the result of Burlington’s success. “We have the amenities, we have the open space, we have the housing stock. And because of it, our property value once again rises. That’s great. The problem is that translates into more taxes. It is the price of the budget we have to bear for our own success, and it’s a burden worth bearing, in my opinion.” 

Meanwhile, Select Board Member Mike Espejo thanked the business community for shouldering more than half of Burlington’s tax burden. “It just goes to show the secret sauce here in Burlington is our strong commercial base, they do go a long way in covering the tax bill for us,” he said. “We should do whatever we can to keep promoting our businesses and keep supporting them, because they make life easier for all of us.” 

The increase comes in the wake of the town’s decisions to fund the Fox Hill School and the Police Station building projects, to the tune of $64 million and $46 million respectively. In the same meeting, the Select Board voted 2-3 against a plan to ask voters to shift those debt burdens to debt exclusions. The Ways and Means Committee recommended the move to the town more budgeting flexibility in the future, but some Select Board members worried about the optics of asking for the financial plan after Town Meeting approved the spends.