Can somebody please explain the increase and where the money goes. It seems like a big jump. Happy New Year :- /

We were among the lowest in the area not so long ago. People will really feel this once our assessed values start rising.

It's funny how our tax rates are so high yet our town is a dump compared to the other towns in our same tax rate range (i.e. Reading,Lynnfield). We don't have any sidewalks. Our so called down town is a glorified highway rest stop, Crime rates are high and our houses and schools are run down. Well at least we have the Motel Caswell!

Raising taxes again? The sewer rate went up 20% last year alone. We are still in a recession the last time I looked. Why raise taxes? Maybe we could change our name to Taxsbury.

Maybe it's time residents take a firm pledge to do no overrides or debt exclusions and look toward what could be reduced in town spending to reduce the tax rate. I knew our tax rates were higher than Wilmington, but I didn't dream that they were higher than Andover, North Andover, Reading, Lynnfield, Burlington. As a town, we've done a lot and built a lot. Now is a good time to slow down and let our pocketbooks catch up with the costs.

The Town of Tewksbury is $250 to $265 Million in the red.

Which way do you think the tax rate will go?

Agree with Mike T. Our main St. (38), is awful. Barely any sidewalks, awful roads, etc. Don't mind paying taxes as long as they are going towards improving the town. Downtown would be a nice place to start. Some updating maybe. Add a sidewalk or maybe plow a sidewalk. Every other surrounding town does more to improve infrastructure. Just take a look next time you drive out of town...

Last year I had a heart attack when I noticed the 20% increase in my property tax. Now another increase?? And what do we have to show for it? East Street might as well be a dirt road it's in such bad condition...I'm embarrassed by it when friend and family have to drive on it to visit me. And like Mike T said, we have no sidewalks or nice town center. It's not a nice looking town. Maybe all the money went to the beautiful police station, senior center and high school? That's nice and all but what about the young couples with no kids that have to struggle to foot the bill for all of this and get NOTHING out of it?? I live in a condo and pay more in prop tax than most people I know pay on their houses in other towns. My husband and I are house hunting and have firmly crossed Tewksbury off the list. The town officials will be sorry when people like myself start leaving and other's don't want to move here because of the outlandish tax rate.

When the Town Meeting comes around next time why not show up and say NO. It's easy to say yes, saying no offends people. Next thing you know you are a republican.

We are also on the high end for commercial rates as well.

One of the biggest reasons we have such high residential tax rates is the fact that we don't have the commercial base that many of those other communites have. That is a key factor as to why the percentage of town revenue is overwhelmingly towards the residential...

As a community we have to encourage business to move to Tewksbury or forever bear the weight of the tax burden on the residents...

People can sit back and complain but might want to become more involved in the process....there have been public visioning sessions as part of the Town's Master Plan as to what residents want to see as improvements to the center and around Town.....most are poorly attended. Also need to realize that change takes time and there are many hurdles and poorly planned/bad past decisions that have to be rectified. The "highway rest stop" look of the Town is the result of YEARS of poor or lack of planning. Because of this we have a lot of catching up to do. It has only been since the early "2000's" that a 'working' Master Plan has been formulated and goals established 'some' of which have come to fruition, many are still a work in progress. And as another poster said....plan to attend Town Meeting twice a year where decisions get voted on.

Dave,

Great response and very accurately described. However, "as a community we have to encourage business to move to Tewksbury, needs to start at the ballot box. We continue to elect board members who are anti-business, anti-growth, and business as usual attitude. We are where we are because that is where we want to be. To pretend differently is merely a foolish exercise in casting blame on everything but ourselves.

I'm moving to Andover!! Wooooohoooooo!!!!!

I wonder how the average residential tax liability in dollars compares between towns. Tewksbury houses tend to cost less than adjacent towns, so I wonder how that affects the avertage tax bill.

Everyone gets upset after the fact. The questions that need to be asked is why do taxes continue to rise and services continue to go down. Look at where all the revenue goes, salaries, benefits, and pensions. I know people are going to start scream at me saying I hate unions and just want to cut but that not my point. What really needs to be done is to review how municipal employees are compensated. Why is the average private sector employee pay SS and Medicare but public sector employees have there own plans. When people begin to determine that the current formula doesn't work then and only then will the vicious cycle come to an end. Life time pensions doesn't work anymore and life time benefits does work either. People would still take these jobs if there was a different pay and benefit package, lets stop fooling our selves. OK now everyone can start calling me a hater and cheap skate but I only say the truth.

Nick perfectly said. That is reality.

Shut up and pay your taxes. This is your town and you spend the money.
If you can't afford it, earn more money or move to Cambridge.

Since we voted to shift the sewer burden from the sewer fund to the town overall, this is the cause of our massive tax increase, the rationale was people would at least be able to write off the additional property taxes when they file their taxes, the only problem with this scenario is the economy is still struggling, and many folks are still out of work, and can't afford any increases. We need to really look at a master fiscal plan to allows the town to paid down debt, which would result in lower taxes for everyone. These types of increases are not sustainable to middle class population.