Marblehead homeowners will see their tax bills rise again — even without an override — after the Select Board voted last week to set a single tax rate of $9.05 per $1,000 of assessed value for fiscal year 2025. That’s an increase of 9 cents or about 1% over the previous year. The owner of a median single-family home, now valued at $956,000, will pay $8,651.80 in property taxes for fiscal year 2025, an increase of about $333 or 4% from last year.
The decision came during the board’s annual tax classification hearing, where newly appointed Assistant Town Assessor Todd Laramie presented his first classification report since taking the position in September, following a tumultuous year that saw hundreds of abatement requests due to assessment errors.
The total taxable value of property in Marblehead has grown to approximately $9.3 billion, with residential properties comprising about 95% of the tax base. Commercial, industrial and personal property make up the remaining 5%. Seventy-three percent of Marblehead’s housing stock is single-family homes, according to the 2020 Marblehead Housing Implementation Plan.
The tax rate increase reflects a slowdown in property value growth while the town’s tax levy — the amount to be raised through property taxes —- continues its steady annual rise. The tax rate is determined by dividing the levy by total property values, so when property values were rising rapidly in previous years, it helped keep the rate lower. Now that value increases have moderated, the consistent levy increase results in a higher rate.
Historical tax rate trend from 2021-2025:
— FY2021: $10.42
— FY2022: $10.52
— FY2023: $10
— FY2024: $8.96
— FY2025: $9.05
The town will raise approximately $73.6 million through property taxes next year, up $2.2 million from this year’s $71.4 million levy. This increase comes from the standard 2.5% annual increase allowed under Proposition 2 1/2, plus new growth.
The town reported $468,709 in new growth for fiscal year 2024, an improvement from recent years where figures typically hovered around $300,000 to $350,000.
“Marblehead’s new growth has always been low relative to other communities mainly because of the density of our settlement and smaller commercial sector,” Select Board Chair Moses Grader explained. “So it is all the more important to track and administer any new growth that we have.”
During the hearing, Laramie outlined plans for a more hands-on approach to property assessment and new growth capture.
“We’re going to get out and look at the properties ourselves, capture the growth ourselves,” Laramie said. “Small things that weren’t on there before, like a small deck here, patio there — they add up, and that’s growth that hasn’t been previously taxed.”
Finance Director Aleesha Benjamin indicates the current figures don’t account for an anticipated general override to fund teacher contracts and address the town’s structural deficit.
“I’m going to try to get more data ready for a forecasting session in December, at which time we will have a better number,” Benjamin said. “But then the detailed information that everybody wants to know on an override — that will be at the State of the Town in January.”
Meanwhile, the Select Board rejected several other tax options, including a residential exemption that could have shifted burden within the residential class, a small commercial exemption, and an open space discount. These decisions align with the town’s historical approach to taxation.
The Finance Committee Chairman Alex Goolsby said the town projects approximately $1.5 million in fixed cost increases for fiscal year 2026, including about $1 million in health insurance increases and $500,000 in pension obligations, even before factoring in potential wage increases from ongoing and settled union negotiations.
“Simply put, Marblehead’s recurring general fund operating expenses have been growing at a rate that exceeds the allowable increases in property tax revenue under Proposition 2 1/2, leading to a structural deficit,” Goolsby has said. “An increase in new growth levels would be beneficial in mitigating or potentially eliminating the annual deficit.”
Select Board member Dan Fox emphasized the need for transparency in any override request.
“We need to build trust back up throughout the town, the schools, the town,” Fox said. “We can’t just go to the citizens. I think that we need to figure out that number that we can go for that’s sustainable because we do need our fire, police and town employees.”
Finance Committee member Molly Teets recently spoke to the town’s financial position: “The fact that our town has been able to go for so long without an override is truly commendable. But at some point, we all have to balance the low tax rate with investment in our town, in our community.”
