Property tax valuation remains well below tax cap, city says

ROCHESTER - During the Finance Committee meeting on Jan. 14, Director of Finance Mark Sullivan reported that certified property taxation for the five-year period spanning FY21 to FY25 has remained $14.5 million below the allowable tax cap, according to a statement released by the city last week.

City Council adopted $9.9 million less in property taxes than permitted under the budgetary tax cap during this period. While the cap allowed for an increase of $22.4 million, City Council approved only $12.5 million in property tax increases.

Sullivan says that further reductions occurred during the annual certification process conducted by the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration (DRA). Adjustments in state revenues and other factors reduced property tax increases by an additional $4.6 million, bringing the total property tax increase from FY21 to FY25 to $7.9 million, or $14.5 million below the allowable tax cap.

From FY21 to FY25, the percentage increase in DRA-certified property taxation was 11.7%, averaging 2.34% annually. By comparison, the Consumer Price Index (CPI)-All Urban increased by 19.96%, or 3.99% annually, over the same period. Rochester's certified property tax increases were 8.26% lower than the CPI-All Urban.