Worcester finds error in chart, postpones setting tax rate

By Nick Kotsopoulos TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
nicholas.kotsopoulos@telegram.com

 

 

WORCESTER — The setting of the city's fiscal 2015 tax rates has been postponed one week because of eleventh-hour corrections that had to be made to the tax classification package used by the City Council in determining the rates.

City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. recommended the delay to give city councilors, residents and business owners time to review the updated information.

Mayor Joseph M. Petty agreed with the recommendation to reschedule the tax classification hearing to 7 p.m. next Tuesday.

Mr. Augustus said the main tax classification report prepared by City Assessor William J. Ford was presented to the City Council accurately.

However, there was an error on a supporting document that outlined the tax rate options and impacts on condominiums and two- and three-family properties, he said.

Mr. Ford said while the table in question correctly calculates the average annual tax bills for condominiums and two- and three-family homes, it "inadvertently" had a scrivener's error with the year-to-year changes.

He said column headings that originally read "FY13 to FY14" should have read "FY14 to FY15."

"The underlying tax shift discussion is not impeded, but after consultation with the chief financial officer and city treasurer, we collectively recommend that the final classification hearing be postponed a week so that City Council and taxpayers have ample opportunity to review this information," Mr. Ford said.

The erroneous information has been corrected and the chart in question has been updated and submitted to the City Council.

Councilor-at-Large Morris A. Bergman discovered the problem data Tuesday while preparing for the tax classification hearing. He brought it to the attention of Mr. Ford Tuesday afternoon, hours before the hearing.

When the AWARE Coalition learned of the problem with the tax classification data, the group, which advocates for "Accurate Worcester Assessments on Real Estate," immediately asked the City Council to postpone the vote on setting the fiscal 2015 tax rates.

Joan Crowell, director of the AWARE Coalition, said the "conflicting information" within the tax classification package should not be ignored.

"In our opinion, to be fair to all taxpayers, the tax rate should not be determined and adopted using questionable tax rate data," Ms. Crowell said. "It is impossible to adopt any tax rate that would make sense if the information provide in the questionable tax rate tables are used.

"If the councilors adopt a tax rate using questionable data, then in our opinion, they are not serving the public in the manner and expectation of the voters," she added.

Contact Nick Kotsopoulos at nicholas.kotsopoulos@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @NCKotsopoulos