Holyoke City Council Moves to Encourage Business Growth
Holyoke has the highest business and industrial property tax rate in the state, having charged a business property owner $34.55 for every $1000 of assessed property value this past year. This is not an incentive for new business growth, and as Mayor Sullivan indicated, could be keeping business and industry away.
The Holyoke Taxpayers association, along with the greater Holyoke Chamber of Commerce, and the Mayor's Industrial Advisory Committee, have urged the City Council to make the right decisions in order to bring new business into the city of Holyoke. Their message seems to have been heard, as the City Council has lowered the commercial rate to $33.98, this past December 4. Although the change represents only a few pennies less per thousand dollars of property value, the cut is definitely a step in the right direction. The council also opted to raise residential rates again, from $12.95 to $13.75.
In a recent letter to the editor of the Holyoke Sun, Michael J. Burke, the executive director of the Holyoke Taxpayer's Association, points out that historically the City Council has made tax-rate decisions that are short-sighted and may have a serious negative long-term impact on vial business growth in the city. Burke said, "The City Council's long time and shortsighted votes to shift the tax burden on industry can only have ill effect on our long-term economic growth."
Residential taxpayers surely do not wish to see their rates increase. However, increasing taxation of the existing businesses in Holyoke can discourage start-ups, and may even drive existing business out or even under. Decline in business means even less future tax revenue, but also fewer jobs, and increased levels of empty store-fronts and buildings with the commensurate blight and crime that can follow.
The commercial tax cut may be a small step, but it would seem to be in the direction the Mayor, Taxpayer's Association, and the Chamber of Commerce have been calling for, none-the-less. There is great need for expanded business in Holyoke. Lowering the commercial tax rate can stimulate investment and create a larger base for tax revenue income, the Mayor has indicated. The council appears to understand this, and if the recent tax rate change is any indication, they are looking toward the future.