Here's Another Look at Property Taxes in Peabody

City councilors recently set the new tax rates for homeowners and other property owners in Peabody for the new year, and the first quarterly bill will be coming in the mail soon enough.

One sentiment councilors, and others, express each year at the tax classification hearing is that property taxes have only gone in one direction in the past decade or so -- up. In reply, the mayor and city finance officials always point out Peabody taxes are, nevertheless, among the lowest around.

For 2014, the average homeowner's bill will be $3,567, a $94 increase from Fiscal 2013. That's factoring in an average home value of $287,700. Average single-family homes are actually valued closer to $305,200, but the figure used by the city is the combined average of single-families, condos and two- and three-families.

For comparison, average tax bills in Beverly, Danvers and Salem (using average single-family home values) will be $5,785, $5,219, and $4,768 in 2014, respectively, and tax hikes in all three communities are larger than Peabody's. Salem home values, however, are lower than in Peabody.

The tax bill for an average single-family home in Peabody will be around $3,784 next year. And over in Lynn, the average single-family is now worth $217,900 as of Jan. 1, 2013, but the corresponding tax bill will be $3,733.

Here's a look at average property tax bills in Peabody over the past nine years, along with average home values:

• 2006 -- $2,773, $364,900
• 2007 -- $2,905, $374,400
• 2008 -- $2,950, $340,200
• 2009 -- $3,011, $323,800
• 2010 -- $3,111, $296,300
• 2011 -- $3,308, $285,700
• 2012 -- $3,378, $285,800
• 2013 -- $3,473, $289,900
• 2014 -- $3,567, $287,700

As in most communities, as spending increases every year, so do taxes. And for what it's worth, Peabody is still taxing $6.7 million below the amount the city otherwise could.

Here's another breakdown -- 36 percent of homeowners will see a tax increase of $0 to $100 while 28 percent pay $100 to $200 more and 16 percent will pay more than $200. On the other hand, 19.5 percent of homeowners will actually see a tax decrease. 

On the commercial side of things, the average property value in Peabody is $1.36 million and equates to a $33,349 tax bill under the new rate.