Weymouth council takes up the fiscal 2027 tax split and a data center pause Monday

Weymouth's Town Council holds its yearly tax classification hearing Monday night, and the town's assessors are asking councilors to keep the split they chose last year, a 146% shift that the town estimates would put the average single-family tax bill at about $6,378 for fiscal 2027, up $169.

The hearing is set for 7:32 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, at the Mary Jo Livingstone Humanities Center at Weymouth High School, 1 Wildcat Way, according to the council's posted agenda. Council meetings are being held there until the Town Hall elevator replacement is finished. The same agenda continues a public hearing on a temporary moratorium on the construction of data centers and lists a discussion of the town's license plate reader cameras.

What the assessors recommend

The Board of Assessors voted unanimously Oct. 19 to recommend "a 1.46 shift for classification purposes and that no residential exemption be implemented for Fiscal Year 2027," Principal Assessor Patricia O'Kane wrote to the mayor and council on Oct. 30. Mayor Michael Molisse sent the council the same terms as measure 26 119 on Nov. 5.

A shift doesn't change how much the town collects in property taxes, because it only moves part of the load from homes onto commercial, industrial and personal property, the class the town calls CIP. A shift "does not increase the total amount of property tax revenue collected," the assessors' hearing packet says.

Weymouth's taxable property is valued at $14.11 billion for fiscal 2027, and homes make up 86.99% of that value, the packet shows. At a 146% factor, CIP property, with 13.01% of the value, would pay 18.99% of the levy, and homes would pay 81.01%. The town can raise up to about $153 million in property taxes: a $147.8 million levy limit under Proposition 2 1/2, which includes a 2.5% increase of $3.58 million and $1.04 million in new growth, plus $5.16 million for the Chapman School debt exclusion, which the assessors call the first debt exclusion Weymouth has had since Proposition 2 1/2 took effect.

What it means for a tax bill

With no shift, every class would pay a single estimated rate of $10.84 per $1,000 of value. At the recommended 146%, the packet estimates the residential rate at $10.10 and the business rate at $15.83, compared with this year's $10.12 and $15.85, which the state Division of Local Services also lists.

The average single-family home is valued at $631,458 for fiscal 2027, up from $613,486, and at the recommended shift its bill would be about $6,377.73, up $169.25, or 2.73%, from this year's $6,208.48, the packet shows. At a single rate the same home would owe about $6,845, so the recommended shift keeps about $467 off the average homeowner's bill, by our math from the town's table. At 150%, the most the packet says the town may shift, the residential rate would be about $10.03 and the average single-family bill about $6,333.52, roughly $44 less than at 146%. An average condominium, valued at $388,962, would owe about $3,928.52 at 146%, up $60.38.

Last year's 146% shift had a similar effect, since the state's figures put the fiscal 2026 average single-family bill at $6,208, about $454 less than that home would have owed at the year's single rate of $10.86, by our math from the state figures and the town's fiscal 2026 packet.

The figures are estimates, O'Kane wrote, and "actual tax rates will not be known until the tax rate recapitulation sheet is prepared and approved by the Department of Revenue."

The Board of Assessors meets at 6:30 p.m. at the same site to review the classification measures, the tax rate and the shift, and the council's Budget/Management Committee, chaired by Councilor Gary MacDougall, meets at 6:30 p.m. on the classification, according to the two agendas.

Help for homeowners who qualify

Weymouth offers personal exemptions under state law, and each must be applied for every year, according to the Assessor's Office. Homeowners 65 or older who meet income and asset limits (income up to $26,147 and assets up to $40,000 for a single person, or $39,221 and $55,000 for a married couple) can get $1,000 off under Clause 41C, and owners 70 or older with assets up to $50,740 can get $350 off under Clause 17E. Veterans with a service-connected disability of 10% or more get $800 off, rising to a full exemption in some cases, and legally blind homeowners get $875 off. A taxpayer can receive only one exemption, the largest one they qualify for, the town says. Owners 65 or older with income up to $40,000 can put off paying their taxes under a deferral program. The assessors list April 1 as the due date, and state law allows three months after the tax bill is sent if that comes later. Details are on the town's Real Estate Tax Exemptions page, or call the Assessor's Office at 781-682-3677.

Weymouth's tax bills also carry a 1% Community Preservation Act surcharge on the tax. The first $100,000 of a home's assessed value is left out of the surcharge automatically, homeowners who get the 41C exemption have it taken off their bills, and lower-income owners and seniors 60 or older who meet the state's income limits can apply for a full surcharge exemption, according to the assessors' CPA exemption guidelines.

A homeowner who thinks the new assessment is too high can apply to the assessors for an abatement. State law sets the deadline as the day the first installment of the actual tax bill, issued after the rate is set, is due.

The data center moratorium

Molisse submitted measure 26 115 on Oct. 8, and it came before the council Oct. 19. As written, the temporary ordinance would bar the town from accepting, processing or issuing permits, site plan approvals, special permits, variances or other approvals for any data center for 12 months from its adoption, and any pending data center application would be put on hold. The council could extend it by up to six months at the mayor's request with a majority vote, and it would end early if the town adopts permanent zoning rules for data centers. During the pause the town would study the effects on its water supply, electricity, land, environment and residents' health and safety, according to the measure, which says Weymouth's zoning code does not define a data center and has no provision permitting one.

The measure was on the Nov. 5 agenda of the Ordinance Committee, chaired by Councilor Kenneth DiFazio, and on the council's Nov. 9 agenda as a public hearing. Monday's agenda lists the hearing as continued from Nov. 9.

License plate reader cameras

Four residents are listed to speak about Flock cameras during resident comment, and MacDougall has the "ALPR/Flock Cameras" item under new business. On Nov. 13, Weymouth police said a Flock plate reader alert led officers to an elderly man reported missing and endangered from Connecticut, the seventh missing person the department has found with the technology.

How to weigh in

Anyone may speak at the two public hearings, and the council's rules give each speaker five minutes. Requests to speak during resident comment had to reach the council office in writing or by email by 10 a.m. the Thursday before the meeting, under the same rules, and four residents are on Monday's list. Committee meetings are open to the public, though a person may address a committee only with the chair's permission. The council takes email at towncouncil@weymouth.ma.us and calls at 781-340-5020. WETC, Weymouth's community channel, posts council meetings to its Town Council playlist at weymouth.tv. The next regular council meeting is Monday, Dec. 7.

Label: Reported by us.