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Assessor's Office
Mission Statement
The Board of Assessors is the local agency responsible for the assessment and the administration of all local taxes provided for by the General Laws of the Commonwealth. The Board consists of three elected members. Providing support for the Board are the Director of Assessing and the Administrative Assistant. The mission of the Board of Assessors is to ''truly and impartially, according to (its) best skill and judgment, assess and apportion all such (property) taxes (and) neither overvalue nor undervalue any property subject to taxation'' - Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 41, Section 29.
Virtual Public Hearing - Annual Tax Classification
The Board of Assessors along with the Sherborn Select Board will hold a virtual public Annual Tax Classification Hearing via Zoom on Thursday, November 16, 2023 at 7:00pm to discuss whether all five classes of property - residential, open space, commercial, industrial & personal, shall be taxed at the same rate or at different rates for Fiscal Year 2024.
Interested Sherborn tax payers are welcome to attend the hearing via Zoom, during which both written & oral statements will be accepted and taken into consideration. Zoom information will be posted to the Town Calendar by Tuesday, November 14, 2023 within the Select Board Meeting agenda.
Local Taxes
There are three principal local taxes administered by the Board: real and personal property taxes, and motor vehicle excise taxes. The assessors are responsible for determining the real and personal property assessments and calculating the appropriate amount of each type of tax. That information is then forwarded to the tax collector, who then assumes responsibility for issuing bills and collecting the tax. The Board is also responsible for processing requests for adjustments to the original taxes, and issuing any appropriate abatement.
More Information
- Visit the Patriot Properties website for property cards.
- FY 2023 Tax Rate is $18.01.
- How much land in Sherborn is exempt from taxes?
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Land owned by the Town, the federal government, and qualifying charitable organizations who annually file an application for exemption are not taxed on the value of their real estate and personal property. Currently 221 parcels valued at $102,635,800 are exempt.
Other properties that are classified as (i) forestry, (ii) agricultural or (iii) open space and recreation are subject to lower real estate taxes. Currently (i) forestry land (MGL c. 61) totals 271.73 acres; (ii) agriculture (MGL c. 61A) totals 1,304.98 acres and (iii) open space and recreation (MGL c. 61B) totals 441.13 acres. See attached FY 2023 Chapter 61/61A/61B information (XLSX).
- How does the Assessors’ Office determine the value of my house?
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Assessors are required by Massachusetts law to assess all real and personal property at its fair cash value as of January 1st each year. The Town then uses a computer-assisted "Mass Appraisal" application approved by the Department of Revenue. This is used to calculate property values based on the market activity as well as certain property-specific attributes such as location, size, construction quality, style, and condition.
- What does "fair cash value" mean?
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Fair cash value is the price a willing buyer and a willing seller would settle upon in an open market transaction.