NORTON - The average homeowner's total property tax bill will go up $38 under a new estimated single tax rate selectmen approved Thursday night.

The new tax rate of $10.92 per $1,000 of valuation is 9 percent higher than the current rate of $9.98, Director of Assessing Suzan Duggan said.

The state must certify the new rate. The first quarterly tax bills are expected to go out in mid-December, Assessors Chairwoman Joan DeCosta said.

Based on the new rate, the owner of a single-family home valued at $327,000 would pay $3,571 in property taxes.

The average home was worth $353,998 last year, when the property tax bill was $3,533. The total value of single-family homes in Norton dropped 8.2 percent this year, which was a property revaluation year, Duggan said.

Residential properties pay 84.78 percent of Norton's tax levy, down 2.5 percent, she said.

The assessors recommended keeping a single tax rate for all property owners.

Selectman Robert Kimball Jr. said Norton last had separate tax rates for residential and commercial properties in 1991.

MICHAEL GELBWASSER can be reached at 508-236-0439 or at mgelbwasser@thesunchronicle.com.