Nantucket Voters Endorsed More Than $200 Million In Override Spending. Here's What That Could Mean For Your Tax Bill

Voters approved more than $200 million in spending over the tax levy limit at Nantucket’s Annual Town Meeting on Monday. If every project approved on Town Meeting floor gains the support of voters once again at the ballot box on May 19th, a year-round Nantucket homeowner with a home valued at around $2 million could see their annual property tax bill increase by around $474.

The figures included here were derived using the town’s tax rate calculator by selecting all projects except the $5.4 million LORAN barracks repair project that voters defeated, and could ultimately end up being slightly lower. Some of the borrowing included on the calculator may not ultimately be necessary.

Of that $474, roughly 55 percent, or $259, comes from the $119 million in borrowing needed to construct a new Our Island Home skilled nursing facility at Sherburne Commons, which was passed under Article 11.

But a single number can’t accurately capture the impact of Monday’s Town Meeting votes on all island property owners. How an individual property owner will be affected depends on the value of their property and whether they qualify for the residential tax exemption.

On the lower end, a year-round homeowner with a $1 million property would see their tax bill increase by only $43. If their property is worth $5 million, they would see a $1,766 increase.

Homeowners who don’t qualify for Massachusetts’ residential tax exemption, which allows municipalities to shift taxes within the residential class away from owner-occupied residential properties, primarily those with lower property values, to vacation homes, higher valued homes, and other residential properties not occupied primarily by the owner, will see the largest increases. A summer resident with a $2 million home is looking at a $861 tax increase, and a part-time resident with a $5 million home could see their tax bill increase as much as $2,154.

There are factors that could change the overall tax burden on Nantucket homeowners. First, voters may not approve all of the spending that was supported at Town Meeting at the ballot box, though the threshold is lower: two-thirds support is needed at Town Meeting, and only a simple majority is needed at the May 19th local elections.

Second, the town is actively working to find efficiencies in the projects to reduce costs. On Town Meeting floor, Select Board chair Dawn Hill suggested that the cost of the new Our Island Home facility, in particular, could be reduced.

“The $119 million is the maximum amount that we are going to ask you to borrow,” Hill said. “There is going to be a fundraising effort, and there are contingencies built in, as well as some housing options that were negotiated with Sherburne Commons that may not be exercised, which come to between 4.5 and 5 million. So this, in all likelihood, and we will work towards this, this number will be less.”

Of course, it is also possible that any of the projects could run into unexpected difficulties and cost overruns that were not planned for, forcing the town to go back to the voters for more money in the future.

Nantucket’s taxpayers who don’t own property won’t be directly affected by the tax increases.