One Big Way Shutesbury and Leverett Differ

Shutesbury and Leverett are similar in their rural nature, unique home styles, and comparable populations. Along with Amherst and Pelham, Shutesbury and Leverett make up the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District. 

A closer comparison of the two towns finds some key differences, as well--most of them financial. Of the two, Leverett is the wealthier, has far more debt and fewer cash reserves than Shutesbury, and appears to spend much less than Shutesbury on General Government and Unclassified/Miscellaneous budget items despite the two towns having comparable fiscal year budget totals ($6,565,414 for Leverett and $6,601,022 for Shutesbury in FY2020). Education expenses of $3,980,966 for Leverett and $3,984,136 for Shutesbury were intentionally left off the chart to improve readability.

The Property Wealth Gap

Sorting for Shutesbury and Leverett on the Division of Local Services’ data page, the differences between the two towns are easy to see. Looking at just the last 10 fiscal years shows Shutesbury lagging Leverett in every financial category. 

For example, Leverett’s cumulative single family value has increased quite steadily since 2012, from nearly $195,000,000 to over $211,000,000 in 2021. While that may seem like a small increase over a decade, it represents a huge gain over Shutesbury, where aggregate value actually declined. Today’s value sits at a little over $187,000,000, a precipitous drop from 2012’s $194,000,000.

In 2017, Shutesbury’s value took a dive to just under $180,000,000 from the previous year’s total of $191,000,000--and only partially recovered thereafter, putting us even further behind Leverett.

Naturally, the value of the average single family home in Shutesbury has been historically less than that of Leverett. Between 2012 and 2019, the difference in value was sizable--in the $50,000 to $60,000 range. In 2020 and 2021, Leverett’s values shot up by $11,000 and $18,000, respectively, over 2019 values. The value of the average Shutesbury home stayed nearly the same, widening the wealth gap with Leverett even more.

The Income Gap

Per capita incomes in Shutesbury have always been lower than incomes in Leverett. Both towns have seen a general rise over the past 10 years in annual income, but Shutesbury is in no danger of catching up to Leverett. 

For Leverett and Shutesbury, 2012 per capita incomes were $34,333 and $20,662, respectively. By 2021, Leverett’s per capita income was $47,510 per year, while Shutesbury’s was only $26,831. This $20,000-plus difference doesn’t reduce our tax burden relative to our neighbor, however.

The average single family tax bill for both towns has been gradually increasing over the past decade except for 2021, when Leverett’s dropped by less than $100 and Shutesbury’s by approximately $300. Our average bill of $5,662 for fiscal year 2021 was only about $800 less than Leverett’s $6,368; in 2020, the difference was around $500.

Lower incomes and high tax bills mean the folks in Shutesbury have to fork over more of their yearly salaries to pay their taxes than do the taxpayers in Leverett. Averaged over the 10-year period of 2012 to 2021, we in Shutesbury paid 23.04% of our annual incomes in property taxes while Leverett property owners paid only 16.71%. The difference was especially stark in fiscal year 2021 when we paid 21.10% of income in local taxes while our neighbors paid a minuscule (by comparison) 13.40%.

You won’t be surprised to learn that as a percentage of value, Shutesbury property owners pay higher rates than people in Leverett. In fiscal year 2012, we paid 1.96% of our property value in taxes while Leverett paid 1.78%. In 2021, we paid 2.26% of value in taxes--which would have been higher if the town hadn’t moved $220,000 in Free Cash to lower the tax rate. In Leverett, that factor was 1.97%.

Over the past decade, Leverett’s tax rate has been lower than Shutesbury’s, as well--even when they were building out their broadband infrastructure. For fiscal year 2022, their tax rate is $20.40, while ours is $23.37.

Can’t get enough of the contrasts between our town and Leverett? Tune in next time when I compare debt, savings, personnel costs, and other budgetary goodies.