Chicopee City Council approves property tax increase for 2025

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Chicopee City Council approves property tax increase for 2025 

By Jonathan Gerhardson on November 16, 2024.  

Chicopee, MA –  The average single family home in Chicopee will see a $221 increase in their tax bill this year, after a new rate increase was approved by City Council at a special meeting held on Nov. 4. 

 

Councilor George Balakier made the motion to set the new residential tax rate which was approved by a unanimous vote. 

A new residential factor of 0.8133 was set for this year, up from 0.8126 in 2024. The tax levy will raise $108,114,221.00. The FY2025 budget is $259,521,726.74. Two and a half percent of the value of all assessed property in the city -- the theoretical maximum tax allowed by law -- is $114 million. 

 

In a report before the council, Laura McCarthy, Chairperson for the Board of Assessors, explained that the city has seen a slump in commercial growth, citing a decrease in assessed value on commercial properties from 37.7% to 34.4% over the past five years. 

McCarthy also reported that Chicopee has a high rate of owner-occupancy, with 97% of single family homes, 80% of condos, and 92% of two and three family homes being owner-occupied. 

 

"The conclusion of those numbers is that it’s almost statistically impossible to shift and do a residential exemption in our city," said McCarthy, who also ruled out the possibility of a commercial exemption because the city has "mostly small commercial businesses."

"It would have been nicer if this meeting wasn’t being held the night of a hotly contested presidential election so that people would be paying more attention to this. But that’s kind of the modus operandi that happens in this city. Things that you don’t really want anybody looking at happen during the summer or when no one’s really gonna be paying attention," said resident Lisa Bienvenue during public speak time.