Fall River assessors take up the fiscal 2027 tax split between homes and businesses Thursday

FALL RIVER Fall River's Board of Assessors takes up the city's fiscal 2027 tax classification Thursday, Nov. 5, at 10:30 a.m., a first step toward deciding how the property tax billed from Feb. 1 is divided between homeowners and business owners. Last year that split kept about $808 off the average single-family bill, by our math from state figures.

The agenda lists the item as a "Discussion of Fiscal Year 2027 Tax Classification." The same agenda includes a closed session on abatements, exemptions and Appellate Tax Board matters, approval of statutory exemptions and the fiscal 2027 boat excise commitment.

What the split did last year

Fall River taxed homes at $11.48 per $1,000 of value in fiscal 2026 and commercial, industrial and personal property at $23.58, state figures show. Homes made up 83.5% of the city's $11.03 billion in assessed value and paid about 71.2% of its $148.6 million levy, by our math from the state's values and rates. Business property, 16.5% of the value, paid about 28.8%.

With one rate for every class, that rate would have been about $13.47 per $1,000 by the same math. The average single-family home, valued at $405,164, carried a bill of $4,651; at one rate it would have been about $5,459. Business property's share of the levy was 1.75 times its share of the city's value, the highest ratio state law's minimum residential factor rule lets any class carry.

Why homeowners' share has crept up

Even at that ceiling, the split moves with values. Business property's share of Fall River's assessed value fell from 17.5% in fiscal 2025 to 16.5% in fiscal 2026, state figures show, as residential values rose 6.7% and business values slipped slightly. Under the formula in state law, the business share of the levy is figured from its share of value, so a smaller business share of value leaves more of the levy on homes.

The average single-family bill rose from $4,103 in fiscal 2024 to $4,415 in fiscal 2025 and $4,651 in fiscal 2026, $548 in two years, while the residential rate stayed between $11.45 and $11.49. The state counts 9,469 single-family homes in the city.

For fiscal 2027, the state has certified $132.3 million in new taxable value in Fall River. Homes account for $62.7 million of it but only $719,511 of the $2,360,398 it adds to the city's levy limit, because the added tax is figured at last year's rates.

SC360 reported the city's fiscal 2027 levy limit and new growth on Oct. 28.

How the neighbors are splitting it

Taunton has already decided. At its fiscal 2027 classification hearing Oct. 13, the Municipal Council voted 9-0 on a roll call to approve a split tax rate, the council's minutes show. The city's assessors told councilors that fiscal 2027 assessments rose about 6% and put the levy at $148,959,067. Taunton's business property also carried 1.75 times its share of value in last year's levy by our math, and its average single-family bill was $5,540 on a home valued at $497,265.

Somerset's assessors meet the same day, at 5 p.m., to review their own proposed shift factors. Business property there carried about 1.72 times its share of value in last year's levy by our math, and the average single-family bill was $6,278 on a home valued at $485,506.

The state also measures each community's average bill against its per capita income. On that measure, Fall River's fiscal 2026 average bill equaled 20.8% of per capita income, Taunton's 17.7% and Somerset's 15.9%.

Read SC360's preview of the Somerset assessors' meeting.

What happens next

The assessors' discussion does not set the split. State law requires the City Council, with the mayor's approval, to hold a public hearing and adopt a residential factor before the state Department of Revenue approves a tax rate. At that hearing the assessors must provide the data and "the fiscal effect of the available alternatives," the law says. If the mayor vetoes the council's factor, the council can override it with a two-thirds vote of its elected members.

Fall River bills quarterly, with payments due Feb. 1, May 1, Aug. 1 and Nov. 1, the collector's office says. The August and November payments are preliminary and by law cannot exceed half of 102.5% of the prior year's tax, so the payment due Monday, Feb. 1, 2027, is the first to carry the fiscal 2027 rate. Interest runs at 14% a year on late payments, and postmarks are not accepted as proof of payment on time.

How to attend

The assessors meet at 10:30 a.m. Thursday in the City Council Hearing Room at One Government Center. Questions about a property's value, an abatement or an exemption go to the Assessor's Office at 508-324-2300.

Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.