Overview:
The town of Athol has voted to maintain a single tax rate for the fiscal year 2026, which will see a slight reduction over last year. The town's total taxable valuation increased by 4% over last year, but the proposed tax rate of $12.67 is a reduction of 4 cents over last year. If the board voted to create a two-tiered tax classification, the residential rate would drop by 76 cents, but the commercial rate would increase by $5.86, which is a large discrepancy for businesses.
ATHOL – Following a hearing to set the town’s tax rate, the board voted to maintain the single rate, which will see a slight reduction over last year.
Principal Assessor Lisa Aldrich and Assistant Assessor Randi Bjorlin met with the board at its Nov. 18 meeting to discuss their recommendations and proposal for the town’s fiscal year 2026 tax rate.
The town’s total taxable valuation, Aldrich told the board, increased by $58 million from FY25.
“That shows a 4% increase over last year, based on the calendar year 2024 sales market,” she said. “Our proposed tax rate, $12.67, is a reduction of 4 cents over last year.”
Aldrich then went on to explain that, if the board voted to create a two-tiered tax classification, “You’d see a drop in the residential rate of 76 cents, but the commercial rate would increase by $5.86, which is a pretty large discrepancy for the businesses.”
Aldrich also pointed out that approximately 88.5% of the property in Athol is classified as residential, with the remaining 11.5% being commercial/industrial.
“So, that small minority would bear the brunt of most of the taxes,” Aldrich said. “The rule of thumb, according to the state, is that you need to be a minimum 27% commercial/industrial before it’s feasible to split the rate.”
The current average assessed value for a single-family home in Athol is $309,700, an increase of almost $12,000 from FY25.
Aldrich showed the board a chart that listed Athol’s 10 biggest taxpayers and the totals they would pay under both a single and a split tax rate. At the top of the list is DeMoulas Super Markets, the owner of Market Basket. Were the town to enact a split classification, DeMoulas would pay $148,000 more in property taxes than under the single rate.
“I showed you the top 10 because they’re the big taxpayers,” said Aldrich, “but it’s also going to hit the small business, the small mom-and-pops that have personal property.”
Aldrich noted that for FY26, Athol has an excess levy capacity of $562,000, meaning the town could have added that much money to the current budget without breaching the tax limit imposed by Proposition 2 ½. However, had the town done so, she explained, the FY26 tax rate would have been $15.05 and the average tax bill would have risen $265 over last fiscal year.
“We’re not taxing to the max, but we’re going to see if we can figure out why this figure has grown so much…..that’s part of what the finance team is going to tackle for FY27,” she said.
“Are you recommending that we split the rate?” asked board member Bill Chiasson.
Aldrich answered with an emphatic, “No. We’ve never done it and we’ve never recommended it. We’re just not big enough.”
Board member Mitch Grosky motioned that the board accept the assessors’ recommendation that the town maintain its single tax classification, to which the rest of the board concurred unanimously.
Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.