WORCESTER, Mass. - Worcester's city assessor says there will be a lot of questions about taxes at Tuesday’s City Council meeting.

The City Council will hold its first tax-classification hearing for fiscal year 2022.  Last year, the council lowered the residential rate, but increased the commercial rate by 3%. 

Councilors will hear from the public and then set the rates in the next two weeks. 

"Obviously, the pandemic has made it more challenging, but typically the City Council will vote on December 7 or even the 14th to set the tax rates and I don't see any issues with those dates this year,” city assessor Samuel Konieczny said.

Konieczny said property values for single family homes are going up 10 to 11% and multi-family properties are going up 20% across the state, He said commercial values are going up “somewhat” and warehouse space is seeing an increase in value as well.

Supporters of the higher rate for businesses say it helps ease the financial burden on homeowners. The city has the state's sixth highest commercial tax rate in FY2021.