ROCHESTER — Assessors recommended that Selectmen stay with the historic trend of having a single tax rate, and the board did.

Assessor Charles Shea explained at the Nov. 4 meeting that the town had never had a split tax rate before.

The town’s $13,957,474.54 levy represents a 5% increase from last year.

But the tax rate this year, at $13.48, was lower than last year’s $14.00 tax rate. This was because the valuation of properties went up. Property values and tax rates are always inversely related.

A split tax rate would have saved residents $474 a year, but would have cost businesses around $2,500 a year.