Found this on Plainville's Town Website. It is interesting to have a comparison to the towns around us.

FY 12 Tax Rates (R – Residential) (C – Commercial)
Norfolk - $16.47
Wrentham - $14.43 (R); $17.06 (C)
Mansfield - $ 14.29 (R); $18.50 (C)
Walpole - $14.14 (R); $18.40 (C)
Bellingham - $14.05 (R); $16.08 (C)
Plainville - $13.99
Foxboro - $13.73 (R); $14.83 (C)
Franklin $13.73
Norton - $13.54
North Attleboro - $ 12.23 (R); $12.70 (C)
Seekonk - $ 12.19 (R); $24.47 (C)
Rehoboth - $10.97

Interesting comparison. Seekonk and North Attleboro seem to be the best buys considering the amenities they offer... North Attleboro has town water and town sewer, the schools are decent, quality of life seems on the par with the rest, although they appear to be getting very commercial along Route 1.

let us now bow down to the business interests, fall our our backs and whimper, piteously, anything you want, guys!

So let's see they reduce the gap at our expense. Typical, I do want more business here, I guess as long as I can afford to live here, (time will tell on that). How much more can the home owner bear? Half the business owners here don't even live here. Maybe if they hadn't blown the industrial park so bad we wouldn't be in such dire straits. So lets sit back and see if we get more businesses. What are the powers at be goiing to do to draw attention to us? North not only is a better value they have their own electric dept, that would be nice. Show me, Attleboro, what's worth living here and paying these high taxes? Show me something

I know the headline "Attleboro Raises Taxes on Homeowners" can draw a lot of attention, but that is why I looked up the tax rates of surrounding towns.

Another comparison from the Plaineville Website. http://goo.gl/VeJx5. Shows Attleboro has the lowest taxes on average of any surrounding town. So if you can't afford the taxes in Attleboro, you probably can't afford the taxes anywhere in the area.
FY 12 Avg Single Family Tax Bill
Norfolk - $6,927
Walpole - $5,740
Wrentham - $5,475
Foxboro - $5,174
Mansfield - $5,164
Franklin - $4,842
Plainville $4,610
Norton - $3,954
North Attleboro $3,895
Rehoboth - $3,867
Seekonk - $3,617
Bellingham - $3,589
Attleboro - $3,341

By comparison the taxes are not high. this article states taxes will increase an average of 117.58 which would not even move us up on the list one spot. Even with this modest increase, we are still the lowest of all surrounding towns.

I agree this measure will not do much to bring businesses to Attleboro. Every town around us has lower business taxes, and many have a single tax rate for Commercial and Residential.

No one likes higher taxes, but compared to all the surrounding towns, Attleboro has the lowest, and still has the lowest even after this increase.

You can complain about the evil businesses, but last I checked, that is where people work. So businesses means jobs, and jobs are good. I support anything that helps business and brings jobs to Attleboro.

For the record, that is not the headline.

To Jack Lank, I respect you and the work you do at the United Regional Chamber of Commerce, but is that how you get around the tax increase to homeowners by getting all kumbaya on us and quoting the "we are all in this together" line. Give me a break. This City has known for years that if it did not increase its commercial tax base the burden would eventually fall on the homeowners to pick up the difference. The Mayor and his administration have been failures when it comes to attracting businesses and jobs and no one holds them accountable. What happened to the "new sheriff in town" (the Mayor) when he took over the Industrial Park 3 years ago and promised to turn the project around. Where are the jobs and the businesses? And all the time the money is there for the city ...$2M free cash one year ...$4M the next . And I'm suppose to believe we are in this together??

Right on Desiderata! No one seems to care that the Mayor & his administration have been a failure at attracting businesses and the Mayors promise to turn the industrial park project around. (The only prospective tennant in the deserted industrial park is the Mayors Fish processing friend) Just keep raising the homeowners taxes and water & sewer rates and the businesses will come. (In your dreams) When & how are we going to pay the many lawsuits that the City of Attleboro has LO$T under this administration? By the way, Look how pretty our downtown looks!

That's it? The registry and Scorpios? Wow, how many years has he been the Mayor? The industrial park killed us! We'll be paying for that epic failure for years, AND all the lawsuits, that for some reason we keep fighting knowing it's a losing battle. So, way off base? I don't think so.

For the record we wouldn't have the RMV if it weren't for then Rep Bill Bowles. Rep Bowles worked with the mayor and the governors office to bring the RMV to Attleboro.

Laura,
Yes you're right, the industrial park is a killer, and it was a mistake to begin with in the first place because of the location which is near residential housing. The city should not be in the business of building industrial parks, they should have sold it to a developer. Private developers could have built the park in a better location with better results in attracting business. There are decent industrial business parks that I've seen that have been built by private developers such as the Cabot industrial park in Mansfield and the Braintree Hill office park which is owned by the Flatley company.

Richard- Yep, That is what I was pointing out to you. It was a team effort with local, and state officials. I personally don't think the tax factor is what is driving business in or out of the city. It is more water, and hidden tax, by the over regulation on business, and the fact that some ( not all) give business a tough time for what seems petty reasons.