Editor’s note: An earlier version of this article stated that the widely circulated claim that “the average Hopkinton homeowner will see an increase of $952 at the highest year” was incorrect. Without going too far into the details of how property tax is calculated, this analysis was based on the 2023 town valuation of $5,504,899,927. For 2024, the Board of Assessors raised the valuation to $6,268,822,793, the consequence of which is to essentially leave the average property owner’s peak year unchanged, should the Elmwood school replacement project be approved.
On November 7, 2023, The Board of Assessors penned a memo to the Select Board in advance of their appearance before the board. The Assessors noted that the average Hopkinton home has increased in value from $753,300 to $852,400, up $99,100 (13%) over the 2022 assessment.
HopNews built an interactive calculator to help you determine your personal tax increase based on the value of your home, should the Elmwood school replacement project be approved.
>> CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE & DOWNLOAD THE CALCULATOR
Are those numbers in comparison to 2023 taxes or the increase we can expect to see each year? Meaning for the average home owner, for funding this project, are taxes expected to go up $7,681 over the next 10 years?
these are number increase for only that school, each year. does not include tax increases that occur every year for town costs.
Mae is correct. However, the calculator linked in the article does include projected tax increases for town operating costs, which have also been forecast by the Appropriations Committee.
I’m pretty sure the math here is incorrect, but I don’t have enough info to fix it. While the average house went up 13% in value, the cost of the project did not. So the average tax increase per house for the project should not go up. Changes in valuation might impact individual homeowners differently, though.
The calculations were incorrect, but as noted by the Editor above, it was because the total town valuation increased along with the house value, which make the percentage multiplier for the average house share 0.01360% as opposed to 0.01368%. The project cost remains the same, of course. We have adjusted the Elmwood calculator spreadsheet to incorporate the updated numbers.
The calculator appears to cover the total funds to be borrowed, $90.6 million, and the repayment of same. I note the interest rate as 4.55%. That, of course, can only be an educated guestimate as to what will be the interest rate over the duration of the loan.
I don’t see where the effect of the added plenty $million sum of the interest payments is included in the repayment. (But I hasten to point out that I’m a mere biker, not a financier!)