SB approves rate cuts as property values climb

Following its annual classification hearing on Tuesday, the Canton Select Board voted to cut both the residential and commercial property tax rates for fiscal year 2026, continuing a trend of rate reductions that has stretched on for more than a decade.

Acting on the recommendation of the town’s assessors, Select Board members agreed to set the FY26 residential tax rate at $9.75 per thousand valuation and the commercial rate at $19.67 per thousand — down 14 and 78 cents, respectively, compared to FY25.

This marks the 12th consecutive year that Canton’s tax rates have either been lowered or stayed put, with the last rate hike occurring in FY14. Since that point, the residential rate has been cut 11 times (and stayed the same once) for a total reduction of more than $3. The commercial tax rate has also been cut 11 times during that period, decreasing by nearly $7 from its FY14 level of $26.52 per thousand.

Even with these steady reductions, however, homeowners’ tax bills have continued to increase alongside rising property values — and that will be the case again this fiscal year with home and condominium assessments rising by 5 percent to a median value of $859,400 and $466,400, respectively. According to Board of Assessors Chair Gene Manning, that translates to an average annual tax increase of $276 for single-family homeowners and $154 for condo owners.

Commercial property owners, meanwhile, can also expect to see bigger tax bills this year with assessments also rising by 5 percent over the past year.

Summarizing some of the data from the assessors’ recent revaluation, Manning said the total taxable valuation of the town is close to $8.4 billion — up $458 million from last year with $1.252 million in new growth. He said the largest personal property taxpayer in the town is currently Eversource at nearly $3.7 million, while the largest commercial and residential taxpayers are DXL ($1.265M) and Prynne Hills, formerly Avalon ($629K).

Prior to voting on the new rates, the Select Board heard from Finance Committee member David Clough, who urged the board to shift more of the tax burden from residents to commercial property owners. He also suggested that the town implement a 10 percent small business tax exemption and potentially consider some kind of residential exemption as well.

While agreeing with the spirit of Clough’s proposals, Select Board Chair JR McCourt said they would need to gather more information before taking any action and did not rule out revisiting Clough’s ideas in the future. Regarding Clough’s request to further shift the tax burden away from residents, Finance Director Randy Scollins noted that the rates recommended by the assessors did in fact shift the burden in that direction by the maximum allowable by the state, and McCourt agreed that the assessors’ recommendation was “less invasive” to residents and struck a nice balance between the two groups of taxpayers.

“No one likes their taxes raised — I know I don’t,” he said. “We have a nice tax base for businesses, and we have a good tax base for the residents, but we can’t push the entire burden onto the businesses because we would be pushing them out of this community and we don’t want to do that.”

McCourt did say he would have preferred to have more time to review their options before conducting the classification hearing and asked Manning if they could try to submit their recommendations earlier next year.

In other news from Tuesday’s meeting …

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Posted by Mike Berger on Nov 21 2025. Filed under News, Town Government. Both comments and pings are currently closed.