Above: Residential Tax bills have continued to increase over the past few years. Percentage increases for the average commercial/Industrial property have been less steep, but they are also on the rise. (graph based on data in Town reports and presentations)
In a hearing last week, the Assessor estimated that bills for an average Single Family Home in Southborough will increase by 7.6%.
That’s up slightly from the 7.37 –7.47% increase projected by Town officials last spring before Town Meetings.
In the November 4th Tax Classification Hearing, the Select Board voted 4-1 to stick with a “single tax rate”. Based on that decision, the Assessor’s formula calculated the rate to be $14.36 to cover the Town’s tax levy in 2026.
An average Single Family Home will see an increased property tax of $1,008, split over four quarters. (That doesn’t include the CPA surcharge.)
In his presentation to the Select Board, Assessor Paul Cibelli highlighted a continued decrease in “New Growth” as contributing to home owners’ tax burdens.
The change is also partially due to the continued increase in average home values, especially beyond the increase in commercial property values.
The average single family home appraised value for FY26 is $991,000 (as of last January). That’s about $7K more than was used by officials in their tax models before Town Meetings last spring.
What it means for homeowners
Actual impacts will vary as home valuation changes can vary widely each year.
When the preliminary valuations for this Fiscal Year were posted this fall, I reached out to Cibelli with a question. He informed me that the Town saw a recent spike in values for split level and ranch houses. (His educated guess was that was caused by Southborough having so few “entry level” homes versus other nearby communities.)
To learn more about checking on your own updated home value, click here. (The Online Property Cards are still showing outdated data from FY25 assessments.)
To calculate your FY26 property tax, multiply the assessed value by 14.38/1,000. (The amount paid for the preliminary FY26 bill that was due on November 3rd will be deducted as a credit from the total owed for the fiscal year.)
Presentation on Tax Situation & Splitting Rate Debate
During the hearing, Cibelli focused much of the presentation on bringing the newest Select Board member, Tim Fling, up to speed. That included explaining that one metric that looked positive is also unreliable.
The assessments for taxable Personal Property rose by 9.56%. Cibelli explained that unlike real estate, those values will depreciate over time. Plus, businesses can quickly pull and relocate those assets.
The Assessor highlighted that he doesn’t expect the New Growth situation to improve in FY27. There aren’t many new homes being built, and there’s an expected “lag” before commercial projects (like Costco) and 40Bs in the pipeline become taxable realities.
Cibelli also detailed to Fling his, and the BOA’s, position against adopting a split tax rate for residential and commercial/industrial properties. His arguments included the value businesses add to Town finances and opposition to “driving a wedge” between residents and businesses.
Fling asked what the Assessor would think about implementing a small change in split rates that would get “ramped up over time”.
Cibelli responded that would be a “Pandora’s Box” that ends up increasing to 10-20%. He cautioned that when towns rely too heavily on the commercial taxes, a crash in their values has a magnified impact on the overall tax base.
Fling rebutted that is already what Southborough is experiencing. Cibelli told him the situation is “much worse” in communities with split rates. He worried about having too many eggs in one basket.
Echoing a point Cibelli made, Select Board member Kathy Cook later stressed that saving a resident 10% on their tax bill would require increasing commercial tax bills by 60%. She followed,
We just don’t have enough commercial businesses to be able to even think about doing this.
It’s worth noting that the Commercial/Industrial, Mixed-Use are on the rise again, even if less steeply than residential taxes. The average tax bill for that property class will go up by 6.76% (or $3,214.)
In the end, only Fling voted against the single tax rate.
Below are more charts from the Assessor’s presentation (which you can open here). I also added a couple of my own updated charts.
