ROCKPORT — The assessed value of the average single-family home in Rockport dropped for the fourth straight year, according to figures from the state's Department of Revenue.
The average single-family home in Rockport is now valued at $526,739, down from $536,393 last year and $550,415 at the height of the housing bubble in 2006 (fiscal 2007).
And the owner of that home paid $4,516 in taxes last year, but will pay $4,720 for 2010 — an average increase of $204.
To compensate for the lower values, Rockport's tax rate has gone up to maintain the 2.5 percent annual increase in property tax collections allowable under the state's Proposition 21รขÑ2 law.
The tax rate is jumping 6.4 percent for 2010 to $8.96 per $1,000 valuation. That's the highest rate Rockporters have seen since 2004, when the rate was $8.78, but it's less than fiscal 2000's tax rate of $15.88.
Properties in town were reassessed last winter and reflect sales occurring during calendar year 2008, said Assistant Assessor Diane Lashua.
The story is the same in neighboring Gloucester, where the assessed value of the average single-family home decreased for a third consecutive year, according to figures released by that city's assessors office this week.
Overall, residential property values in Rockport fell nearly 4 percent in the recent reassessment, figures show.
The tax rate in Rockport is the same for both residential and commercial properties. The tax rate is determined by the size of the town budget for the fiscal year.
The 2010 budget of $23,490,882 was a roughly 4 percent reduction from the fiscal 2009 budget, which expired June 30. The decrease was almost entirely due to a decline in debt service through retirement of the most recent school construction bond.
First half 2010 tax bills were mailed Dec. 16 and payments are due into the treasurer and collector's office by Jan. 20. Taxpayers wishing to claim the deduction on income taxes should make their payments on or before Dec. 31, officials said.
Jonathan L'Ecuyer can be reached at 978-283-7000 x 3451 or jlecuyer@gloucestertimes.com.
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