17 of 19 South Coast communities taxed within 1% of their Proposition 2 1/2 limit in fiscal 2026, state figures show
Fall River, Swansea and Dighton used up most of the room they had three years ago, while New Bedford's grew to $12.3 million.
SOUTH COAST Seventeen of the 19 South Coast cities and towns taxed within 1% of the most Proposition 2 1/2 let them raise in fiscal 2026, the latest year with full state figures, while Somerset and New Bedford held almost all of the region's unused taxing room, state Division of Local Services figures show.
Together the 19 communities left about $32.2 million of their fiscal 2026 levy limits unused. Somerset accounts for $19.2 million of that and New Bedford for $12.3 million, about 98% between them. The other 17 left a combined $765,807, less than one tenth of 1% of the $839 million they were allowed to raise.
That is tighter than the state as a whole. Across all 351 Massachusetts communities, the median left 0.34% of its maximum levy unused, and 206 left less than 1%. On the South Coast, nine communities left less than 0.1%: Berkley, Dartmouth, Fall River, Lakeville, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Taunton, Wareham and Westport.
How the limit works
Proposition 2 1/2, Mass. General Laws chapter 59, section 21C, puts two caps on the property tax. Total taxes cannot exceed 2.5% of a community's full and fair cash value, the levy ceiling. Under that ceiling, the levy in any year cannot exceed 102.5% of the previous year's maximum levy limit, plus taxes on new construction and other added value and any increase voters approve. Excess levy capacity is the gap between that maximum and what a community actually taxes.
Because each year's limit is figured from the previous year's maximum, not from the taxes actually raised, room a community leaves unused carries into the next year, and using it takes no ballot vote, though taxing past the maximum does. Under the same law, the local appropriating authority can put an override question on the ballot by majority vote, and it passes if a majority of voters say yes.
Where the room went
Several communities that had room three years ago have used nearly all of it. Fall River had $2.3 million of unused capacity in fiscal 2023 and $2.6 million in fiscal 2024; in fiscal 2026 it had $15,806, one hundredth of 1%. Swansea went from $2 million, 5% of its maximum, in fiscal 2023 to $52,749. Dighton went from $883,554, about 4.1%, to $58,014.
New Bedford moved the other way. Its unused room grew every year, from $3.5 million in fiscal 2023 to $4.8 million, then $9.6 million and $12.3 million in fiscal 2026, or 7.1% of a $171.9 million maximum levy. The city's fiscal 2026 levy was $159.6 million. The unused amount comes to about $122 for each of its 100,695 residents, using the state's 2023 population count.
Somerset has held the most room in the region in each of the four years. It taxed $55.4 million in fiscal 2026 against a maximum of $74.5 million, leaving $19.2 million, or 25.7%, down from $20.4 million and 31.4% in fiscal 2023. That is about $1,053 per resident and the 10th largest unused amount in dollars among all 351 communities.
Town by town
| Community | Fiscal 2026 | Share | Fiscal 2023 | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acushnet | $116,199 | 0.49% | $128,553 | 0.60% |
| Berkley | $13,183 | 0.08% | $8,821 | 0.06% |
| Dartmouth | $8,758 | 0.01% | $18,375 | 0.03% |
| Dighton | $58,014 | 0.24% | $883,554 | 4.12% |
| Fairhaven | $42,486 | 0.12% | $31,311 | 0.10% |
| Fall River | $15,806 | 0.01% | $2,274,886 | 1.76% |
| Freetown | $144,384 | 0.48% | $82,943 | 0.32% |
| Lakeville | $21,184 | 0.07% | $160,717 | 0.57% |
| Marion | $60,894 | 0.25% | $182,730 | 0.83% |
| Mattapoisett | $47,509 | 0.16% | $121,593 | 0.45% |
| New Bedford | $12,280,564 | 7.14% | $3,456,607 | 2.30% |
| Rehoboth | $11,683 | 0.03% | $245,533 | 0.81% |
| Rochester | $21,361 | 0.12% | $4,739 | 0.03% |
| Seekonk | $28,719 | 0.05% | $319 | 0.00% |
| Somerset | $19,182,526 | 25.73% | $20,361,847 | 31.44% |
| Swansea | $52,749 | 0.12% | $2,016,771 | 5.00% |
| Taunton | $60,711 | 0.04% | $21,901 | 0.02% |
| Wareham | $48,604 | 0.09% | $35,823 | 0.07% |
| Westport | $13,563 | 0.03% | $6,161 | 0.02% |
| South Coast | $32,228,897 | 2.97% | $30,043,183 | 3.15% |
What it means for the next budgets
For most of the region, the figures leave little slack for the fiscal 2027 levies still to be set and for fiscal 2028 budgets. A community taxing at its maximum can grow its levy only by the 2.5% the law allows on top of last year's limit, plus taxes on new value, unless voters approve more. Somerset and New Bedford could raise more without an override, up to the room each has left.
Fiscal 2027 numbers are only starting to arrive. Rochester is the only South Coast community whose fiscal 2027 levy appears in the state's report so far, and it is $961 under its maximum. Across the state, 27 communities have fiscal 2027 figures posted.
Unused levy room is separate from the free cash and stabilization balances communities keep in reserve, which South Coast 360 compared town by town on Oct. 25.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
Every figure comes from public records: the Division of Local Services report Excess Levy Capacity and Override Capacity, which the agency lists as current as of Oct. 29, the 2023 population figures in its Community Comparison Report, and Mass. General Laws chapter 59, section 21C. We read them on Oct. 29. The South Coast totals, the combined share for the other 17 communities, the per resident figures, the statewide median and the statewide ranking are our arithmetic from the state's own numbers.
Corrections
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Sources (3)
- Massachusetts Division of Local Services: Excess Levy Capacity and Override Capacity (Data current as of 10/29/2026)Department of Revenue, Data Analytics and Resources Bureau. Full 351-community Excel export, fiscal 2023 to 2027: Levy Limit w/o Debt and Capital Exclusions, Maximum Levy Limit, Total Tax Levy, Excess Levy Capacity, Excess as a % of Maximum Levy, Levy Ceiling. Read Oct. 29, 2026.
- Massachusetts Division of Local Services: Community Comparison Report, General tab (2023 Population)Department of Revenue. 2023 population for each community, used for the per resident figures. Read Oct. 29, 2026.
- Mass. General Laws c. 59, s. 21C (Proposition 2 1/2)Massachusetts Legislature. Taxes may not exceed 2.5% of full and fair cash valuation; the levy may not exceed 102.5% of the prior year's maximum levy limit, plus the prior year's rate on added valuation and amounts voters approve; an override question goes to the ballot by majority vote of the local appropriating authority and is approved by a majority of those voting. Read Oct. 29, 2026.