My tax bill has gone up more than 2.5%. Doesn’t Proposition 2 ½ limit the tax increase?
Proposition 2 ½ limits the City of Newton, and all other Massachusetts communities, the amount of citywide taxes that can be raised. Proposition 2 ½ limits a community to raising citywide taxes by 2.5% from the previous year’s levy limit. Allowing for new growth can then increase this levy limit. New growth consists of property tax increases caused by new construction, renovations or land use changes. Proposition 2 ½ does not limit any individual property tax increase or decrease. For example, in Fiscal Year 2011, the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen approved a budget that included a tax levy of $241,724,752. The levy limit for Fiscal Year 2010 was $233,388,825. So, the maximum amount of taxes that can be budgeted by the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen for Fiscal Year 2011 is $233,388,825 X 102.5% = $239,223,546 plus certified new growth. (The 102.5% number is increasing the previous year’s limit by 2.5%) The new growth, which was certified by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue, is
