EASTHAMPTON - The owners of average-priced homes in the city will see their property taxes go up by $132 when they receive their tax bills by the end of the month.

Property taxes in Easthampton rose from $12.69 to $13.27 per thousand dollars of value, said Principal Assessor Mark Dimauro. The average home in the city is valued at $229,000, Dimauro said.

"I think our tax rate is right in line with other towns that have a single tax rate," Dimauro said. Communities that have a split tax rate shift a higher portion of the tax levy to commercial and industrial properties.

Dimauro said that the increase was due partly to the effect of the new high school building project, which will continue to show up on tax bills for 20 years. City voters approved an $18 million debt-exclusion override for the school in May 2010. The state is paying 64 percent of the project's overall costs, so the city's share will be just over $15 million, according to Mayor Michael Tautznik.

The construction costs of the Public Safety Complex, built in 1999, will also affect the tax levy until 2017.

The City Council approved the tax rate in November. It is more than twice the 28-cent increase per thousand dollars of value councilors approved in 2010. The bills are due Feb. 1.

Property values in the city did not change this year because they were not scheduled to be reevaluated, he said. In fiscal year 2010, property values in the city dropped by approximately 3 percent.

Easthampton homeowners also saw their sewer and water rates increase this year to cover a $362,000 deficit in the city's water, sewer and waste water treatment enterprises.

Starting this past July, rates increased to $2.25 per 100 cubic feet of water and $3.80 for sewer. The Board of Public Works also set future rate increases to take effect in 2012 and 2013, when rates will be $2.35 per 100 cubic feet of water and $4 per 100 cubic feet of sewer.