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Falmouth plans residential property tax exemption for FY28; Select Board directs staffing and budget steps
Summary
The Select Board directed town staff to prepare implementation of a residential real‑estate tax exemption aimed at shifting tax burden toward non‑year‑round property owners; officials said it is revenue neutral and would be ready to implement in fiscal year 2028 with FY27 budget support for staffing and software.
Select Board Chair Bob Moscally and Town Manager Mike Renshaw said the board has given direction to town staff to assemble the pieces needed to implement a residential property tax exemption in fiscal year 2028.
Renshaw said the exemption is intended to be revenue neutral: it would shift a portion of property tax obligation away from year‑round residents toward owners who do not live in town year‑round. "A lot of folks think that it's a revenue generator. It's revenue neutral," Renshaw said.
To implement the program for FY28, Renshaw said the town needs additional staffing to process applications and software programming to handle exemption calculations. He said the FY27 budget proposal to town meeting in April will include funding for roughly four to five months of a staff position and related software costs to place the town in position for FY28.
Moscally encouraged residents to watch the March 9 meeting presentation for examples of how the exemption would affect different homeowners by valuation, and suggested the Select Board may hold a community forum to explain the program to reduce public confusion.
No final exemption bylaw or detailed eligibility thresholds were included in the update; implementation details will be developed by staff for future Select Board consideration and public hearings.
