Wayland Select Board sets single tax rate at $15.63, rejects exemptions

WAYLAND — November 18, 2024 — Wayland holds the line on a single tax rate and continues to wrestle with 195 Main Street. The Select Board voted 5-0 Monday to set a fiscal 2025 tax rate of $15.63 per $1,000, an 11-cent increase, and unanimously rejected both a residential exemption and a small commercial exemption after Director of Assessing Robert LaRue reported that 95.8 percent of the tax base is residential. Average single-family assessments rose 5 percent to $1.1 million; new growth fell to $35.9 million from $90.1 million last year following completion of Alta River's Edge. Select Board member Thomas J. Fay said he would not "lay any hurdles for successful businesses in town." The board also approved a $258,100 library interior improvements contract with Northern Contracting Corporation and, in a joint vote with the Planning Board, appointed MassDOT planner Jesse Newbury as Planning Board associate member through April 1.