By Carol Britton Meyer

The select board voted to maintain a single tax rate for residential and commercial properties during this week’s tax classification hearing for fiscal year 2026. This decision is in keeping with the board’s traditional approach to property taxes and was made upon the recommendation of the board of assessors.

The select board and the assessors met in joint session Wednesday night to set the rate. Select board members Greg Grey and Jason McCann were not present.

The FY26 tax rate is $10.81 per $1,000 of assessed value, compared with $11.21 for FY25. However, the average valuation of a single-family home increased from $673,300 in FY25 to $721,100, with an average annual tax bill of $7,798 as compared with $7,541 in FY25.

This means that the average residential property owner can expect a $257 increase in FY26 taxes (versus $327 last year), even with the lower tax rate, while the tax on commercial properties is expected to increase by $851 as opposed to a $99 decrease last year.

That’s because at the new tax rate, the average tax bill for commercial properties will be $9,227 as compared with $8,376 for the last fiscal year. The average valuation on commercial properties for FY26 commercial properties is $853,300 as compared with $747,200 in FY 2025.

Hull ranks 13th among Plymouth County single-tax-rate communities based on the FY25 numbers, with an average single-family tax bill of $7,541 compared with Lakeville on the low end at $5,926 and Hingham property owners on the high end – paying $13,610. Property tax assessments vary greatly among these communities, ranging from $495,737 in Whitman to $673,328 in Hull to $1.27 million in Hingham.

Because nearly 96.1% of the properties in town are residential, and Hull has a small commercial base of 2.57%, maintaining the single-rate structure means that most of the tax burden falls on residential property owners.

A small portion of the property tax, or 1.33%, applies to personal property. This tax includes tangible property that is not real estate, such as furniture in second homes or business equipment.

However, if the tax rate were split and commercial properties were charged a higher rate, homeowners would see relatively little savings, while the average commercial property owner would see his or her property tax burden greatly increase, depending on the percentage of the split.

Based on a 10% shift, the average residential taxpayer would save $31.65 per year, while the average commercial taxpayer would bear an additional tax burden of $922.70.

Based on a 50% shift, the average residential taxpayer would save $158.24 a year, while the average commercial taxpayer would pay an additional $4,613.52.

The select board also voted not to adopt residential nor small business exemptions, also upon the recommendation of the board of assessors.

While the residential exemption would save tax dollars for lower-valued owner-occupied residences, it would put an additional tax burden on higher-valued owner-occupied residences as well as on non-owner-occupied residences, apartments, and vacant land, according to the assessors.

It was noted that this exemption is property and not financial based, meaning that someone with a lower-valued home might have a high income while someone with a limited income may occupy a larger home that, for example, has been in their family for many years.

Adopting the small-business exemption would increase the commercial tax rate and the taxes of non-qualifying commercial properties, including all commercial vacant land.

Click here for the assessors’ presentation on the FY26 tax rate.

In other business

• Hull Police Officer Kevin Olson was named to the position of police sergeant this week to fill the vacancy created by the recent retirement of Sgt. Nicholas Galluzzo, with the select board concurring with Chief John Dunn’s recommendation.

Olson was surrounded by family members and fellow police officers in a show of support.

Olson has been a member of the Hull Police Department for more than seven years and holds a master’s degree in criminal justice – earned after returning to college while working at HPD –and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry.

He currently serves as the department prosecutor, a field training officer, and an officer-in-charge. He has been awarded a department commendation and three unit citations.

Most recently, Olson has taken on the added responsibility of being an FAA-license drone pilot for HPD’s new drone unit.

“I feel wholeheartedly that he will be a great supervisor, and I look forward to working with him,” Dunn said.

• Town Manager Jennifer Constable provided updates on recent conferences she attended, including one focused on the Dignity Pledge – which was adopted in February by the select board – and others that included topics such as AI use by municipal staff and conflict resolution, among others.

Town hall staff will be trained in the use of AI, which Constable said could be useful in answering emails and public records requests. “There still has to be a human eye on it, and we would need to develop a policy,” she said, noting that AI has about an 80% accuracy rate.

With regard to the conflict management conference takeaways, Constable said she looks forward “to rolling out some positivity in town and some fun activities.”

• Constable also told the board that the town is facing “significant capital needs,” including a new public safety facility, finishing the capping of the landfill, securing town hall as the staff prepares to move into Memorial School in the near future – “a buttoning up at minimum,” completion of road paving projects, and additional seawall work, among others.

“We won’t be doing them all at the same time – the cost is exorbitant,” she said.

The various projects will be prioritized during the capital planning process, with the information shared with citizens to explain how those priorities were decided upon and to seek their input.

“I’m asking for patience as we try to make [the best decisions],” Constable said. “There’s not a lot of grant funding available.”

In response to select board member Jerry Taverna’s request for an update, Constable said no decisions have been made about a combined DPW-light plant building at West Corner.

“We had a grant opportunity” to come up with a preliminary plan, she said, “but nothing has been decided.”

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