Lincoln adopts maximum 1.50 commercial tax shift, declines three other classification options

LINCOLN -- September 11, 2023, Lincoln pushes commercial tax shift to the statutory ceiling as residential values jump 8 percent. The Select Board voted unanimously Sept. 11 to adopt a 1.50 commercial tax shift factor for fiscal 2024, the maximum allowed, to preserve the town's historical 95-5 residential/commercial levy split. Acting Associate Assessor Alex Servone of the Regional Resource Group said without the shift the residential share would have climbed to about 96.5 percent; commercial assessments rose just 5 percent against the 8 percent residential jump. "This is the maximum shift we can do," Servone told the board, which also declined the residential exemption, the open space discount and the small commercial exemption. Chair Jim Hutchinson noted Lincoln voters have "soundly rejected" the residential exemption every time it has surfaced. Separately, the board unanimously stripped a third bullet from a regional Hanscom anti-expansion letter after resident concerns that FAA jurisdiction would make the proposed enforcement language meaningless.