New Tax Rates Set

On average, homeowners will pay $279 more; businesses, $572 less, under plan approved by selectmen for FY2026

 

By Mark E. Vogler

 

The owner of an average single-family home in Saugus, valued at $683,849, will pay $7,126 in taxes next year – $279 more than this year. Meanwhile, the tax bill for an average commercial property, valued at $2,201,281, will be $46,843 – a decrease of $572 over this year. Those scenarios will take effect as a result of the new tax rates for the 2026 fiscal year approved unanimously on Nov. 25 by the Board of Selectmen, pending approval by the state Department of Revenue (DOR). A tax rate analysis presented by the Saugus Board of Assessors showed a 4.08 percent increase in the average homeowner’s tax bill, while commercial and industrial property owners can expect an average decrease of 1.21 percent.

“Nobody wants any bills to go up,” Selectman Jeffrey Cicolini said as he tried to lend some perspective to the average tax bill Saugus homeowners will be facing next year.

“But $279 sounds a lot more palatable than some of the disasters we’re hearing – one thousand and thirteen hundred dollar overrides and things like that. Hopefully, we can find a way to balance needs with cost controls so we can still make this an affordable community to raise families,” he said.

Once again, selectmen followed their past practice of recent years by adopting a plan calculating the lowest possible residential factor – a plan that would tax commercial, industrial and personal (CIP) property at a maximum share of the tax levy for the 2026 fiscal year at 175 percent. Selectmen voted to set the tax rates for the 2026 Fiscal Year that began July 1 at $10.42 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for residential and $21.28 per $1,000 of assessed valuation for commercial. The current tax rates are $10.68 for residential and $21.96 for commercial.

Deputy Assessor Iwona Zamiejska-Wilt and the Saugus Board of Assessors (Chair David Ricciardelli, Daniel Kelly and Jennifer D’Eon) appeared before the Board of Selectmen for a public hearing to determine the percentage of local tax levy for the 2026 Fiscal Year to be borne by each class of taxable property within the Town of Saugus.

Town Manager Scott C. Crabtree stressed that the average tax bill Saugus homeowners will pay next year is far less than in many other communities in the region. “We do have a very good bang for the buck for residents in Saugus,” Crabtree said.

“No one wants to pay more taxes or have an increase on your cell phone or electricity bill. But the average tax bill in Saugus compared to the communities around us is very significant,” he said.

In addition, Crabtree noted that other area communities charge residents a fee for trash hauling and pickup. For instance, it’s $200 a year in Danvers and $432 a year in Melrose. Saugus residents do not pay a trash fee. Citizens also benefit from the town being “a full service community” that provides full-time public safety.

“We should be appreciative of the commercial property because they are picking up a significant portion of the taxes,” Crabtree said. “One of the takeaways that people need to understand – and we try to explain this every year – the most important thing residents should focus on is your average tax bill.”

 

Sizing up Saugus’ tax bill

Here’s how the Fiscal Year 2025 average residential tax bill for Saugus compares with other area communities:

 

                                   Average            Average single

Community                home value    family tax bill

Saugus                        $641,074            $6,847

Danvers                      $693,303             $7,619

Stoneham                  $765,770              $7,834

Melrose                     $817,630               $8,095

Wakefield                  $776,158                $8,809

Reading                   $890,915                  $10,148

Lynnfield                 $1,045,013               $11,035

 

Sizing up Saugus’ tax rates

Here’s how the residential tax rate in Saugus for Fiscal Year 2025 compares with residential tax rates of other area communities:

• Saugus – $10.68
• Danvers – $10.99
• Lynnfield – $10.56
• Melrose – $9.90
• Reading – $11.39
• Stoneham – $10.23
• Wakefield – $11.35

 

The report also noted how the CIP tax rate for Saugus compared to Fiscal Year 2025 CIP rates of other area communities:

• Saugus – $21.96
• Danvers –$18.79
• Lynnfield – $19.18
• Melrose – $17.75
• Reading – $12.67
• Stoneham – $19.40
• Wakefield – $21.76

 

Total Taxable Value in Saugus

Class Value (Fiscal Year 2026)

Residential – $6.4 billion – 84 percent share

Commercial – $860.7 million – 11.2 percent share

Industrial – $195 million – 2.5 percent share

Personal – $174 million – 2.3 percent share

Total – $7.7 billion

 

Total FY 2026 New Growth in Saugus

Residential – $563,955.71

Commercial – $63,195.54

Industrial – $5,751.32

Personal Property – $592,138.00

Total New Growth – $1,225,040.58

 

New Growth Comparison in Saugus*

Fiscal Year New Growth

2026 – $1,225,041

2025 – $580,294

2024 – $1,605,184

2023 – $1,515,638

2022 – $846,712

2021 – $1,146,652

 

  (Editor’s Note: Information was compiled by the Saugus Board of Assessors.)

 

*New growth is the increase in the tax base due to new construction, parcel subdivision, condominium conversions and property renovations but not due to revaluation. It is calculated by multiplying the increased assessed valuation by the prior year’s tax rate for the appropriate class of property.