When Buying a Home, Be Sure to Consider Town Tax Rates. Tax Rates in the Towns of South-Central Massachusetts.

When Buying a Home, Be Sure to Consider Town Tax Rates.  Tax Rates in the Towns of South-Central Massachusetts.

When you set out to buy a home, one of the first actions you take is to determine how much home you can afford.  Most people know enough to consider the price of the home, plus the cost of their mortgage interest.  Two additional important costs are the price of yearly home insurance and the annual taxes that a home owner is expected to pay.  These two factors will increase your monthly home costs, so you want to be sure that you do not overlook them.

Today, I want to provide you with information on property tax rates for the towns of south-central Massachusetts.  These are the towns that run along the I-90 corridor, from Westborough to Wilbraham.

The table below shows the 2011 residential property tax rate for each town.  The tax rates are per $1000 of property value. 

To calculate the monthly cost associated with property taxes, follow these steps:

1.  Take the tax rate for the town and multiply it by the home's assessed value. 

2.  Divide this result by 1000.  This will be your yearly property tax.

3.  Divide the result from step 2 by 12.  This will be your monthly property tax cost.  Now you can factor that into your monthly budget.

Here is an example for a home in Auburn, Massachusetts: 

1.  Tax rate = $15.38.  Home's assessed value = $200,000.   $200,000 x $15.38 = $3076000.

2.  Now divide that by 100.    $307600/100 = $3076.  Annual tax cost for this home.

3.  Now divide by 12.    $3076/12 = $256.33.  This will be the monthly tax cost of owning this home.

Below are the tax rates for the towns mentioned above:

Auburn, MA 15.38

Brimfield, MA 11.93

Brookfield, MA 14.51

Charlton, MA 11.57

Dudley, MA 10.56

East Brookfield, MA 13.85

Grafton, MA 13.63

Holland, MA 14.58

Monson, MA 14.43

North Brookfield, MA 13.56

Oxford, MA 13.08

Shrewsbury, MA 10.67

Southbridge, MA 17.14

Spencer, MA 11.07

Sturbridge, MA 16.19

Wales, MA 14.64

Ware, MA 14.87

Warren, MA  15.32

Webster, MA 11.16

West Brookfield, MA 10.94

Westborough, MA 18.24

Wilbraham, MA 16.66

Data source:  MLS PIN

If you need help in determining the cost of your property tax, please give me a call.  I will be happy to guide you through the process.  You can reach me at (508) 982-0686.