Long Pond homeowners ‘blindsided’ by property tax spikes, grill town assessors

LAKEVILLE — Lifelong Lakeville resident Larry Kenney used to pay $6,400 in real estate taxes and now, following a neighborhood-wide tax reclassification by the Board of Assessors, is facing a bill of just under $12,000 for his two-bedroom home. 

Kenney was one of the many taxpayers living on Long Pond who saw a huge spike in their real estate property tax bill on July 1. 

Following the Board of Assessor’s yearly valuations of town properties, residences on Long Pond were the “hardest hit” with tax hikes, according to Lakeville Regional Assessor David Golden.

The reactions that came forth at a special Board of Assessor’s meeting on Tuesday, July 16, in which tempers soared and accusations filled the air, made it clear residents did not take this matter lightly. 

During the meeting, Golden explained the increase followed a reclassification made by the Board of Assessors to standardize the values of waterfront properties in town. The Board of Assessors put particular emphasis on “recreational” bodies of water such as Long Pond — a classification that some residents said was unclear. 

This came after the Board of Assessors realized property values in certain neighborhoods on the pond were the “wild west” with property valuations all across the board, said Golden. The goal was to create equity among neighborhoods on Long Pond, he said.

Golden also explained that these new values were the result of the Board’s annual duty to make sure assessment values are in line with property sale prices, which have gone up significantly over the last few years. 

Some residents claimed that as a result of the new valuations, their taxes went up by as much as 100%. 

Taxpayers pressed the board to explain “the formula” used to determine how these valuations were made. 

Kenney said he was “upset” that there was no advance process to determine the tax increase on waterfront homes. 

These increases, he claimed, were based on the sales of “high-end homes” that are not representative of the neighborhood as a whole.  

Other residents stated that despite the Board’s efforts to standardize property values, the assessments were in fact, not equitable. 

Lakeville resident Tim Andrews questioned why his 0.3 acre property is taxed at a similar rate to his neighbors. Andrews claims his neighbors have properties three times the size of his. 

Andrews said he now has a tax bill that’s just under $14,000, adding that he and his wife will have to put away $270 a week to cover this new expense. 

Homeowner Jenna Melvin McNulty said residents had no warning their taxes were about to skyrocket.

“The lack of transparency before getting this increase in taxes was very disarming,” she said and urged the board to be more transparent moving forward. 

Golden said he understood taxpayers felt “blindsided” by this and said he would work with the assessor’s office to “figure out a way” to send communication to residents before tax bills are sent out. 

Elaine Kudos, a longtime Lakeville resident who lives on a fixed income, said the board should have thought of that beforehand. 

“You’re taking five months of my social security now to pay the taxes. Now, it’s going to be eight months,” she said. “It’s wrong what you’ve done to us.”