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Templeton select board keeps single tax rate after assessors’ recommendation
Summary
Deputy assessor told the board the town’s total assessed value is about $1.1996 billion, with residential property ~92% of the total; the board voted to keep a single tax rate by setting the residential factor at 1 and CIP factor at 1, pending Department of Revenue certification.
The Town of Templeton Select Board voted Nov. 10 to maintain a single property tax rate for fiscal year 2026 after a presentation from the board of assessors.
Justice Graves, deputy assessor, told the board the town’s total assessed value is $1,199,579,301 and that residential property accounts for roughly 92% of that total. Graves said residential valuations rose about 3.49% this year, while commercial and industrial values showed little change after a five-year revaluation in 2025.
“Right now the total value of properties in town currently sits at $1,199,579,301,” Justice Graves said while explaining the valuation mix and new-growth figures. Graves and the assessors recommended keeping the residential factor at 1 (a single tax rate) and the corresponding CIP factor at 1 for fiscal 2026.
Board members asked questions about the long-term implications of a single rate and whether Templeton should consider a split rate to shift more of the levy to commercial and industrial accounts. Graves cautioned that the town’s commercial portfolio is small and volatile, making large shifts risky: state law allows shifting CIP up to 150% but local results can be volatile where few accounts make up that base.
Following the discussion, the Select Board voted to set the residential factor at 1 and the CIP factor at 1, pending certification of the town’s annual tax recap by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue.
What happens next: the assessors’ certification and the Department of Revenue’s tax-rate certification will determine final rates and bills. The board’s action maintains the current distribution of tax burden unless DOR certification or subsequent action changes that outcome.
