Swampscott Average Single-Family Tax Bill To Rise $573 For 2024

SWAMPSCOTT, MA — Swampscott homeowners will see a jump in their tax bills in 2024 as the town's residential real estate continues to outpace its small commercial sector and new growth lagged behind estimates.

The tax increase will be mitigated by $1 million in so-called "free cash" — or excess town revenue — that a vote of town meeting this week approved to transfer to ease the tax burden on residents. This has been an annual Swampscott practice as town officials look to balance spending needs with strict budgeting guidelines that limit most departments to increases of 2 percent plus new growth.

The growth for 2023 was estimated at $425,000 but came in significantly less at about $200,000.

The average single-family tax bill will rise $573 for 2024 with the average single-family home assessed at $750,700 — up 9.4 percent from 2023. Single-family home values have risen 53 percent since 2019, with condo values up 56 percent, multi-family homes up 59 percent and commercial and industrial policies up 44 percent.

The town will shift the tax burden from residential to commercial property at a 1.75:1 rate for 2024 after it was 1.7:1 in 2023 — increasing the burden on commercial property owners to help offset the burden on residents.

Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald credited the town's relatively low rise in tax rates compared to other Essex County communities — he said Swampscott had the third-highest taxes in 2014 and now has the 10th-highest out of 34 communities — to its fiscal discipline in budgeting and a AAA bond rating that has allowed for major projects such as the new K-4 elementary school and open space purchases.

"There is no other community around that has defined the economic performance that has helped you invest in some extraordinary projects," he said at the special town meeting. "When you cut that ribbon on that new school, it is all because of the work that we've done.

"There hasn't been an easy contract to negotiate. There's no easy out here. Everybody had to give up a trash barrel. Everybody made a sacrifice. I'm sorry about that. But that's what communities do when they actually start to recognize that their master plan potential is really defined by how we budget."

Fitzgerald said spurring economic growth in the town — through rezoning at Vinnin Square, redeveloping Humphrey Street and the potential new boutique hotel at the Hadley School — as well as a renewed commitment to tight budgeting is key to easing the tax burden in future years.

"It doesn't get easier — it actually gets harder," Fitzgerald said. "What we've done over the last six years is that we've taken a lot of the inefficiencies out. Now we have to go after what is marbleized within the existing structures. Harder conversations. But if we give up that focus I promise you we will lose everything that we've been able to achieve twice as fast as it took us to build it.

"You will lose it if we step away from the complicated conversations around budgeting and not get into those critical conversations because they are politically expedient. You will go back to struggling."

He noted that Swampscott has the oldest population of all the 34 Essex County cities and towns — meaning that a larger percentage of its property owners are on fixed incomes.

"This isn't a race to the bottom," he said. "We're not looking to be the most affordable town (in Essex County). That's never been the goal. The goal has been to be the most balanced. Let's be the most fair, and equitable.

"Let's not forget about the seniors. Let's not forget about open space. Let's not forget about schools. It's about balance."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. X/Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)