Commerical Industrial Personal Property (CIP) Taxes and Shift by Town

Massachusetts municipalities may shift tax burden onto commercial and industrial properties by setting a CIP shift factor, which is a ratio between commercial, industrial, and personal (CIP) property tax rates and residential tax rates.  Communities with a CIP shift of 1.0 tax all property at the same rate, while communities with higher rates, today some as high as 1.75, tax CIP property at considerably higher rates than residential property.  In some cases, CIP property may be taxed at rates exceeding 2.5% (the magic number associated with Proposition 2 1/2.)

Many small communities set their CIP shift at 1.0, in which case commercial tax rates are the same as residential tax rates. Examples are Arlington, Chatham, Williamstown, Newburyport.

Other communities set their CIP shift at higher rates. In some cases, communities are limited to a maximum shift of 1.5; while in some the maximum is 1.75. Finally, some communities have maximum shifts which are slightly different from these two figures.

These first two charts show the CIP shift elected by each town and the maximum permissible. Towns which are well below their maximum CIP shift, such as those set at 1.0, could decrease residential tax burden by shifting to businesses. However, for towns at maximum CIP shift, no further burden shift can occur.

The two final charts show why this matters, showing the % of local property tax paid by CIP v. R/O.
CIP=Commerical, Industrial, and Personal Property
R/O=Residential and Open Space (typically residential space is all or the majority of R/O).

If a municipality is already at the maximum CIP shift, then a town could elect to shift taxes back to residents; however, this might seem unlikely since residents vote. Barring that active decision, the town could maintain the maximum CIP shift. However, as reassessment of properties occurs each year, if residential properties inflate more than commercial properties, the residences will find themselves with an increasing % of tax burden and no ability to obtain further relief by shifting taxation to CIP properties.

Abington Acton Acushnet Adams Agawam Alford Amesbury Amherst Andover Aquinnah Arlington Ashburnham Ashby Ashfield Ashland Athol Attleboro Auburn Avon Ayer Barnstable Barre Becket Bedford Belchertown Bellingham Belmont Berkley Berlin Bernardston Beverly Billerica Blackstone Blandford Bolton Boston Bourne Boxborough Boxford Boylston Braintree Brewster Bridgewater Brimfield Brockton Brookfield Brookline Buckland Burlington Cambridge Canton Carlisle Carver Charlemont Charlton Chatham Chelmsford Chelsea Cheshire Chester Chesterfield Chicopee Chilmark Clarksburg Clinton Cohasset Colrain Concord Conway Cummington Dalton Danvers Dartmouth Dedham Deerfield Dennis Dighton Douglas Dover Dracut Dudley Dunstable Duxbury East Bridgewater East Brookfield East Longmeadow Eastham Easthampton Easton Edgartown Egremont Erving Essex Everett Fairhaven Fall River Falmouth Fitchburg Florida Foxborough Framingham Franklin Freetown Gardner Georgetown Gill Gloucester Goshen Gosnold Grafton Granby Granville Great Barrington Greenfield Groton Groveland Hadley Halifax Hamilton Hampden Hancock Hanover Hanson Hardwick Harvard Harwich Hatfield Haverhill Hawley Heath Hingham Hinsdale Holbrook Holden Holland Holliston Holyoke Hopedale Hopkinton Hubbardston Hudson Hull Huntington Ipswich Kingston Lakeville Lancaster Lanesborough Lawrence Lee Leicester Lenox Leominster Leverett Lexington Leyden Lincoln Littleton Longmeadow Lowell Ludlow Lunenburg Lynn Lynnfield Malden Manchester By The Sea Mansfield Marblehead Marion Marlborough Marshfield Mashpee Mattapoisett Maynard Medfield Medford Medway Melrose Mendon Merrimac Methuen Middleborough Middlefield Middleton Milford Millbury Millis Millville Milton Monroe Monson Montague Monterey Montgomery Mount Washington Nahant Nantucket Natick Needham New Ashford New Bedford New Braintree New Marlborough New Salem Newbury Newburyport Newton Norfolk North Adams North Andover North Attleborough North Brookfield North Reading Northampton Northborough Northbridge Northfield Norton Norwell Norwood Oak Bluffs Oakham Orange Orleans Otis Oxford Palmer Paxton Peabody Pelham Pembroke Pepperell Peru Petersham Phillipston Pittsfield Plainfield Plainville Plymouth Plympton Princeton Provincetown Quincy Randolph Raynham Reading Rehoboth Revere Richmond Rochester Rockland Rockport Rowe Rowley Royalston Russell Rutland Salem Salisbury Sandisfield Sandwich Saugus Savoy Scituate Seekonk Sharon Sheffield Shelburne Sherborn Shirley Shrewsbury Shutesbury Somerset Somerville South Hadley Southampton Southborough Southbridge Southwick Spencer Springfield Sterling Stockbridge Stoneham Stoughton Stow Sturbridge Sudbury Sunderland Sutton Swampscott Swansea Taunton Templeton Tewksbury Tisbury Tolland Topsfield Townsend Truro Tyngsborough Tyringham Upton Uxbridge Wakefield Wales Walpole Waltham Ware Wareham Warren Warwick Washington Watertown Wayland Webster Wellesley Wellfleet Wendell Wenham West Boylston West Bridgewater West Brookfield West Newbury West Springfield West Stockbridge West Tisbury Westborough Westfield Westford Westhampton Westminster Weston Westport Westwood Weymouth Whately Whitman Wilbraham Williamsburg Williamstown Wilmington Winchendon Winchester Windsor Winthrop Woburn Worcester Worthington Wrentham Yarmouth Abington Acton Acushnet Adams Agawam Alford Amesbury Amherst Andover Aquinnah Arlington Ashburnham Ashby Ashfield Ashland Athol Attleboro Auburn Avon Ayer Barnstable Barre Becket Bedford Belchertown Bellingham Belmont Berkley Berlin Bernardston Beverly Billerica Blackstone Blandford Bolton Boston Bourne Boxborough Boxford Boylston Braintree Brewster Bridgewater Brimfield Brockton Brookfield Brookline Buckland Burlington Cambridge Canton Carlisle Carver Charlemont Charlton Chatham Chelmsford Chelsea Cheshire Chester Chesterfield Chicopee Chilmark Clarksburg Clinton Cohasset Colrain Concord Conway Cummington Dalton Danvers Dartmouth Dedham Deerfield Dennis Dighton Douglas Dover Dracut Dudley Dunstable Duxbury East Bridgewater East Brookfield East Longmeadow Eastham Easthampton Easton Edgartown Egremont Erving Essex Everett Fairhaven Fall River Falmouth Fitchburg Florida Foxborough Framingham Franklin Freetown Gardner Georgetown Gill Gloucester Goshen Gosnold Grafton Granby Granville Great Barrington Greenfield Groton Groveland Hadley Halifax Hamilton Hampden Hancock Hanover Hanson Hardwick Harvard Harwich Hatfield Haverhill Hawley Heath Hingham Hinsdale Holbrook Holden Holland Holliston Holyoke Hopedale Hopkinton Hubbardston Hudson Hull Huntington Ipswich Kingston Lakeville Lancaster Lanesborough Lawrence Lee Leicester Lenox Leominster Leverett Lexington Leyden Lincoln Littleton Longmeadow Lowell Ludlow Lunenburg Lynn Lynnfield Malden Manchester By The Sea Mansfield Marblehead Marion Marlborough Marshfield Mashpee Mattapoisett Maynard Medfield Medford Medway Melrose Mendon Merrimac Methuen Middleborough Middlefield Middleton Milford Millbury Millis Millville Milton Monroe Monson Montague Monterey Montgomery Mount Washington Nahant Nantucket Natick Needham New Ashford New Bedford New Braintree New Marlborough New Salem Newbury Newburyport Newton Norfolk North Adams North Andover North Attleborough North Brookfield North Reading Northampton Northborough Northbridge Northfield Norton Norwell Norwood Oak Bluffs Oakham Orange Orleans Otis Oxford Palmer Paxton Peabody Pelham Pembroke Pepperell Peru Petersham Phillipston Pittsfield Plainfield Plainville Plymouth Plympton Princeton Provincetown Quincy Randolph Raynham Reading Rehoboth Revere Richmond Rochester Rockland Rockport Rowe Rowley Royalston Russell Rutland Salem Salisbury Sandisfield Sandwich Saugus Savoy Scituate Seekonk Sharon Sheffield Shelburne Sherborn Shirley Shrewsbury Shutesbury Somerset Somerville South Hadley Southampton Southborough Southbridge Southwick Spencer Springfield Sterling Stockbridge Stoneham Stoughton Stow Sturbridge Sudbury Sunderland Sutton Swampscott Swansea Taunton Templeton Tewksbury Tisbury Tolland Topsfield Townsend Truro Tyngsborough Tyringham Upton Uxbridge Wakefield Wales Walpole Waltham Ware Wareham Warren Warwick Washington Watertown Wayland Webster Wellesley Wellfleet Wendell Wenham West Boylston West Bridgewater West Brookfield West Newbury West Springfield West Stockbridge West Tisbury Westborough Westfield Westford Westhampton Westminster Weston Westport Westwood Weymouth Whately Whitman Wilbraham Williamsburg Williamstown Wilmington Winchendon Winchester Windsor Winthrop Woburn Worcester Worthington Wrentham Yarmouth