SPRINGFIELD — The average homeowner will likely see their tax bill increase by $288 in the upcoming year if the City Council takes the advice of its tax advisory committee.

The one chance to lower the increase by roughly $30 will come if Mayor Domenic J. Sarno agrees to put $2 million of the free cash certified Tuesday toward the levy, or the total amount needed to fund this year’s about $985 million budget.

The ad-hoc committee, which is made up of residents, the head of the Springfield Regional Chamber of Commerce and city finance employees, voted 5-0 Tuesday to recommend the City Council set the tax rate at $15.62 per $1,000 of valuation of residences and $34.72 for businesses.

The committee had little room to lower the residential tax rate since the City Council had already voted to

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