SOUTH HADLEY — The average South Hadley homeowners will see their fiscal year 2026 property tax bills increase between $197 and $225, depending on which fire district they live in.
At a Dec. 2 tax classification hearing, the Select Board and two Prudential Committees approved a single tax rate for all property classifications. The boards also heard more about the impact of a residential exemption on property tax bills, but Associate Assessor Melissa Couture Rimbold said it would take more planning to process applications for 5,500 residential households in town.
“My only reason I bring this up a lot is we vote on a lot of exemptions that we hope will ease the tax burden on people who need it most,” Select Board Member Renee Sweeney said. “The least house-rich folks would benefit the most from an exemption like this.”
An average single-family homeowner is expected to pay $5,467.58 in property taxes. Property owners in Fire District 1 will pay an additional $762, on average, for fire coverage, while those in Fire District two can expect to pay an additional $872.
Tax rates for fiscal year 2026 for the town stand at 13.52% per $1,000 valuation. Rates for Fire District 1 and Fire District 2 are 1.89% and 2.22% respectively. While all the tax rates have decreased from last fiscal year, the property tax bills continue to go up because property values are on the rise.
Rimbold said property values in town increased almost 7% across the board, but residential property values are climbing much faster than commercial. The average single-family home value is now assessed at $417,105.
Residential exemption?
In the face of climbing cost of living and a potential Proposition 2½ override, the Select Board requested Rimbold provide details on what it would mean if the town adopts a residential tax exemption.
This value-based exemption can reduce the taxable value of an owner-occupied primary residence. The exemption shifts the tax burden from lower-valued homes to higher-valued residences, vacation homes, and non-owner-occupied rental properties.
“The communities that adopt this truly are those that have a lot of non-owner-occupied that are not impacting the actual resident, they’re impacting the property owner,” Rimbold said.
Adopting the exemption would shift the tax rate higher, and ineligible parcels like vacant property and open space would pay an increased rate. These ineligible parcels contribute to the break even point of the exemption because a vacant or undeveloped parcel on the property of a homeowner would be taxed higher.
“There would need to be some lead time on this,” Rimbold said. “Number one, people need to be educated on this. Number two, we need to figure out process and application, and number three, we’d need to implement it.”
Sweeney noted the real beneficiaries are not those in the average range, which sits right under the break even point. Instead, this exception could really benefit lowest-income residents of South Hadley that are not seen in the calculation.
Select Board Member Andrea Miles added that the town already offers exemptions and work-off programs for seniors and veterans. The board should continue to look at all possible exemptions for these residents.
“I want to be aggressive in that because that’s the only way we have to ease those burdens in specific scenarios, and we are gong to need to do that,” Miles said.