During Monday night’s Select Board meeting, board members weighed in on the tax rate for residential homes and business for fiscal year 2016.

Administrator of Assessing Richard Gonsalves presented recommendations from the Board of Assessors to the Select Board. In fiscal year 2015, the tax classification sits at 1.40 percent. The Board of Assessor’s recommended that the rate be changed to 1.39.

Gracie entered a motion to maintain the rate at 1.40 percent, but the motion failed. The Board supported the 1.39 rate in a 3 to 1 vote, with Gracie opposed.

The Town of Dartmouth operates under a split tax rate. The residential share will go down slightly from fiscal year 2015, from 76.28 percent to 75.21 percent. The share for commercial, industrial and personal property will increase slightly from 23.71 percent in fiscal year 2015 to 24.78 percent.

With the factor of 1.39, a residential home with a valuation of $281,600 will rise by $84. A commercial property with a valuation of $508,000 will increase by $110.

“I still hear a lot of people that don’t understand why we have a split tax rate. Some people think it’s punishment of businesses. It’s not. The reason it was created in the first place is to correct for the different methods of accessing residential property versus all the others,” said Select Board member Frank Gracie. “It was to stop residents from paying more than their fair share.”

Finance Director Greg Barnes said the new rate is consistent with the rate over the past few years.

“Overall, the levy is going up two-and-a-half percent as allowed by Proposition 2½. The amount that the town can tax can go up two-and-a-half percent, plus new growth,” said Barnes.

“That doesn’t mean that all tax payers will see a two-and-a-half percent increase. It depends on your valuation. If you’re in a part of town that went up 10 percent and everyone else went up zero in valuation, the burden will shift,” he said. “The overall amount the town can tax goes up two and a half. How that’s distributed is based on valuation as well as the [1.39] factor.”

Shawn McDonald said that the numbers were still negligible to nearby towns. Dartmouth’s residential tax rate for fiscal year 2016 will be set at $9.84 per $1,000 of assessed evaluation. In fiscal year 2016, residential rates in Mansfield were set at $15.41 and the residential rate in Acushnet is $14.53.

“Even looking at last year’s rates, we’re still close to two bucks less than Marion,” said McDonald.