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Small Commercial Exemption <br /> The selectmen may grant a small commercial exemption to all Class Three, <br /> Commercial properties that are occupied by businesses with an average annual <br /> employment of no more than 10 people and an assessed valuation of less than <br /> $100,000. <br /> Amount <br /> The exemption may not exceed 10 percent of the assessed value of each eligible Class <br /> Three, Commercial property. <br /> Eligible Businesses <br /> For a business to qualify, the Director of the Department of Workforce Development <br /> must certify that the business had an average annual employment of 10 or fewer <br /> people at all.locations during the preceding calendar year. By July 1 of each year, the <br /> Director provides assessors with a list of businesses that met that employment <br /> criterion. If a sole proprietorship or partnership does not appear on the certified list, <br /> the assessors may separately determine whether it met the employment criterion for <br /> the preceding calendar year. <br /> Impact on the Tax Rate <br /> Adopting a small commercial exemption increases either the commercial and <br /> industrial tax rates (if a split rate is adopted) or the overall tax rate if there is no split <br /> rate. The amount of the tax levy paid by those two classes remains the same,but <br /> because of the exempted_valuation, it is distributed over less assessed value. <br /> This higher rate creates a shift that reduces the taxes paid by owners of properties <br /> occupied by small businesses and shifts them to larger commercial and industrial <br /> taxpayers. This exemption tends to benefit property owners (landlords) and not the <br /> small business owners themselves who often don't own the real estate. <br /> - 4 - <br /> C:\Users\tmcook\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\tNetCache\Content.Outlook\234694UO\Overview of Classification4.docx <br />