City Receives First Approval Of Revaluation

Cambridge taxpayers have finally begun to receive preliminary notices of their property tax bills for last year.

The bills should have been sent out in June But Proposition 212, the tax-cutting measure passed in 1980, forced Cambridge and other Massachusetts cities to slice 15 percent off their tax levy until they reached a 212 percent limit. In order to collect enough tax revenue, the city had to revaluate all its real estate and did not receive state certification of its figures until last week.

Full Value

As a result of the revaluation, all property in Cambridge will be taxed at 100 percent of its value, as opposed to the 17 or 22 percent assessment figures used last year. But the rise in percentage assessment will not result in a rise in taxes, because of the Prop 212 cuts.

In fact, the tax levy this year will just cover the city budget approved last spring. City Manager Robert W. Healy told the meeting of the Cambridge city council last night.

Recourse

People who feel their property has been unfairly assessed still have three weeks to present their case at a heating, and then another week before the figures receive final Department of Revenue approval, Healy added.

But Healy said the final figures are unlikely to differ much from preliminary numbers.

Cambridge's total property value is estimated now at $2.95 billion. At the proposed rate of 2.163 percent, the 1983 tax levy would cover the $6.9 million needed for the present budget.