Lawrence committee sends FY2026 property tax-classification to full council, schedules Nov. 18 public hearing

The Lawrence City Budget & Finance Committee on Monday, Oct. 27, 2025, voted to send the fiscal year 2026 property tax-classification to the full City Council with a recommendation to order a public hearing on Nov. 18, after a presentation by Chief Assessor Alexi Vega on valuation changes and the mechanics of a tax-factor shift.

Vega told the committee the city—s total taxable real estate and personal-property valuation for FY2026 is approximately $8.9 billion, a roughly 7% increase from the prior year. He gave class-specific increases of residential +7.1%, commercial +4.6%, industrial +4.1% and personal property +12.7%, saying the personal-property rise reflected new equipment reported by utility companies.

The estimate of the levy for the fiscal year is in the range of $92 million. Vega explained that Massachusetts voters— Proposition 2½ and the Department of Revenue—s certification process govern how the city sets a tax rate. The city may adopt a tax factor (the maximum discussed was 1.75) to shift a larger share of the tax burden to commercial, industrial and personal-property taxpayers without changing the total dollar amount the city raises. Vega showed examples that, under a 1.75 factor, residential…