Salem taxpayers are likely to learn tonight what they will be paying in property taxes next year. The city has not yet reached an agreement with Dominion Resources on what it will pay in taxes for 2012, but that should not affect the tax rate for next year.

The proposal from Mayor Kimberley Driscoll is to raise taxes on single-family homes and condominiums, while the proposed taxes on duplexes and tri-plexes is expected to go down.

The City Council is expected to act on the tax rates at a special meeting, probably its last for the year.

The valuations of commercial properties have held steady, which means businesses will see only a modest increase in their taxes. Commercial properties are taxed at a higher rate than residential properties.

The single-family taxes on an average home are proposed to go up $127. Condominiums would go up by $37 on the average-priced home.

Two-family homes would get a decrease of $38 on an average-priced structure. And three-family homes would see a decrease of $115.

Driscoll said the average property tax increase of $82 is “one of the lowest on the North Shore.”

In her letter to the councilors, she wrote: “A simple perusal of our balance sheet indicates that our diligence and hard work over the last several years has paid off as we are in a much stronger financial position than we were five years ago.”

The City Council had planned to set the tax rate last week, but the state Department of Revenue would not certify that tax rate until the city and Dominion Resources reached an agreement regarding how much Dominion will pay the city in taxes next year.

Jason Silva, the mayor's chief of staff, said Wednesday that the agreement with Dominion has not been reached.

Dominion, which is downsizing the Salem power plant, believes it should pay less than the $4.75 million it paid the city this year.

Thanks to a measure pushed through by state Rep. John Keenan and state Sen. Fred Berry, the state has agreed to make up Salem's loss from lower taxes caused by Dominion's departure for the next five years. Those funds, which will rise each year, will be paid out of a regional fund created by energy companies and others that contribute to a greenhouse gas fund.

The council is also expected to act on the mayor's request to move about $1 million from the free cash fund to help keep the residential rate hikes as low as possible. The council will also be asked to transfer about $1.3 million in free cash from this year's budget to the stabilization, or rainy day fund, and the capital improvement fund.