Stockbridge — Although town residents may get a break in the upcoming tax rate for fiscal year 2026 (FY 2026), that benefit may be overshadowed by higher property values in town.
Stockbridge Principal Tax Assessor Michael Blay recommended a FY 2026 estimated tax rate of $6.83 per $1,000 valuation—a 26 cent decrease over last year’s $7.09 tax rate—during his October 16 presentation before the town’s Select Board. However, he cautioned that increased property values may void that benefit for local property owners.
The dais took the first steps in setting the tax rate at the session, unanimously approving a single tax rate for all classes of property owners including residential, commercial, industrial, and personal property while declining to adopt residential and small commercial business tax exemptions.
According to Blay, the proposed tax rate will bring in an estimated $10.2 million to support town operations. That levy is compiled from residential properties totaling about $1.4 billion (or rounded to about 91 percent of the levy); commercial properties totaling about $70 million (or rounded to about five percent of the levy); personal properties totaling about $6.2 million (or rounded to about four percent of the levy); and industrial properties totaling about $6.7 million.
For FY 2026, the total value of all property classes in Stockbridge amounts to about $1.5 billion, with fiscal year 2025 seeing a valuation of about $1.23 billion.
The town has 1,697 residential parcels within its borders, including lots and multifamily properties, with the average residential property value in FY 2026 assessed at $802,586, up from the previous year’s valuation of $723,184.
Taxpayers can expect to receive their new tax bills in early November, Blay said.
At the meeting, board members also unanimously approved authorizing town counsel to file a petition on behalf of Stockbridge to intervene as a full participant in the Department of Public Utilities proceeding filed by Housatonic Water Works earlier this month. The water provider is seeking funding for the construction of the manganese filtration system that was required as part of a settlement agreement between the company and the state to rectify the utility’s long history of water quality issues.
Twenty-four Stockbridge residents are connected to Housatonic Water Works as their tracts are too far from town to be a part of Stockbridge’s water supply and wells are not feasible for this part of the municipality.
