Associate Assessor Melissa Couture-Rimbold (left) discusses the FY26 tax rate during the Dec. 2 Selectboard meeting.
Photo credit: SHCTV15
SOUTH HADLEY — South Hadley residents can expect to see their property taxes increase in 2026 after the Selectboard and two Prudential committees hosted its annual tax classification hearing on Dec. 2.
The average South Hadley homeowner will see their fiscal year 2026 property tax bills increase between $197 and $225, depending on which fire district they live in.
Associate Assessor Melissa Couture-Rimbold was at the Selectboard meeting to give a presentation on the FY26 tax classification.
An average single-family homeowner is estimated to pay approximately $5,639 in property taxes in FY26. Property owners in Fire District 1 will pay an additional $788, on average, for fire coverage, while those in Fire District 2 should expect to pay an additional $925.
The approved tax rate for FY26 will be $13.52 per $1,000, a 3.29% decrease from FY25.
The single tax rate was $13.98 per $1,000 for FY25.
For FY26, tax rates for Fire District 1 and Fire District 2 are $1.89 and $2.22, respectively.
The tax rate for Fire District No. 1 in FY25 was $1.95 per $1,000 and $2.23 per $1,000 for Fire District No.2 residents.
Average single families can expect to see their taxes increase by approximately $171 in FY26, but due to the tax rate in Fire District No. 1, homeowners in that area can expect to see their tax bills increase by an additional $25 for fire, water and ambulance services in the district.
Fire District No. 2 residents can expect to see an additional increase of $53.
While all tax rates have decreased from last fiscal year, the property tax bills continue to go up because property values are on the rise.
Couture-Rimbold explained that the differences in the tax rates are due to valuation changes.
“This year is an interim year adjustment, so every five years we do a full revaluation. Every year in between we still do the analysis work. The values are based on 2024 sales, except for certain classes that we don’t have enough sales, we have to use two years,” she explained.
The average single family home value for FY25 was $391,100. The average single family home value increased to $417,100 in FY26.
In total, the property value overall for the town went up 6.3%. Single family home values went up 6.8%, condos went up 6.2%, and two and three families increased by 9.4%.
New growth in the town was $139,997, and the tax levy was approximately $35 million. Commercial and industrial properties values increased by 7% and 4.2% respectively.
For a commercial industrial property in South Hadley, an average tax bill is set to increase by $231 overall — $34 in Fire District No. 1 and $64 in Fire District No. 2.
The Selectboard approved adopting a factor of 1 for all classes of property in South Hadley for FY26.
Fire District No. 1 and Fire District No. 2 also adopted a factor of 1 for the next fiscal year.
