WHATELY – The perennial clash between commerce and social equity erupted last week at the tax classification hearing. Whately Selectman Fred Baron researched split property tax rates and came before the Selectboard a changed man.

“I came in, not on either side,” Baron said, wanting to give tax classification a good study. He researched the outcomes, spoke to local residents and concluded, “A split tax rate would serve the town well because we have a large senior fixed income population that would benefit greatly from a reduction in their property tax of $150, $250.”

Last year, the town had a single tax rate. All residents and businesses, large and small, rich or not, paid the same property tax rate. A split rate allows towns to tax residential property at one rate and business property, or just the property of large businesses, a different rate. Business rates are further differentiated between small businesses with less than ten employees, and larger firms like Yankee Candle.

A split tax rate would shift the tax burden onto commercial businesses. Board Chair Jonathan Edwards worried that a split tax rate would not invite future business investment.

“I worry about the message we are sending with a split tax rate, that when small businesses are trying to decide where they’re going to plant their seed,” he said, “they’ll say, ‘Well, I want to move to a town that has a little bit more of a friendly climate for me, and they want me to be their neighbor.’ I’m worried that a split tax rate doesn’t do that.”

“I don’t know that splitting the tax rate labels you anti-business or anti-development,” Baron replied. “Where a small business chooses to place its flag will depend on whether they can make money there. A couple thousand dollars is not much to a business that’s going to be doing $250,000 a year.”

Minutes prior, Baron raised Muffins as an example of the limited impact a split tax rate would have on small businesses. In the most likely scenario, a 20 percent split, Muffins will pay $1,500 more. That’s not much if broken down into a daily charge.

“We’re talking $5 a day. A cup of coffee plus, a day,” Baron said. The split would move that tax burden onto companies, “but if that’s what it takes to ... give our fixed income people, particularly the seniors [a break] ... that’s a trade-off I’d be willing to pay.”

Edwards explained further, “We have tremendous pressures on our budget. We need entities, like a Muffins, other places, to come into Whately, and pay a significant amount of tax dollars to help us run our town as well as we have historically run it.”

Board of Assessors Chair Fred Orlosky cautioned the board against thinking taxes are the only contribution corporations make to communities. Businesses help pay for fire and police services, fund scholarships at the Frontier Regional School District, and made improvements to conservation efforts.

“Even the 250th celebration, they helped with the cake,” Orlosky said. “We’ve hired an economic development officer. We did an economic study in 2018. If we’re going to focus on economic development, we need to promote that and get businesses to join in and not look the other way.”

Edwards and Joyce Palmer-Fortune, early in the discussion, said they were not prepared to make changes in the town’s tax structure. Palmer-Fortune made the motion that in the coming year the town continues with a single tax rate. The measure passed, 2-1, with Baron the dissenting vote.

The board voted unanimously to have no open space discount, residential discount or small commercial exemptions.