Board of Assessors

Overview

Tax Rate

The tax rate is the town’s budget divided by the total town’s taxable valuation. The town’s budget is a product of Town meeting appropriations required for services, capital expenditures, equipment, etc. These appropriations are adjusted by revenue received by the town and other expenditures.

Responsibilities

The Board of Assessors is the local agency responsible for the assessment and the administration of all local taxes provided for by the General Laws of the Commonwealth. The mission of the Board of Assessors is to ‘‘truly and impartially, according to its best skill and judgment, assess and apportion all such property taxes and neither overvalue nor undervalue any property subject to taxation’’ - Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 41, Section 29.

Supervision

The Board is supervised in its administration of local taxation by the Department of Revenue's Division of Local Services, as provided by Chapter 58 of the General Laws. Among other duties, the Division of Local Services reviews the Board's assessment procedures every five years in order to certify that property is being assessed at its full cash value. Every five years the Department of Revenue audits the Board of Assessors’ records and procedures for certification. The Department of Revenue’s last certification of the Board of Assessors’ records and procedures were done for Fiscal Year 2016.