Though Worcester City Council Tuesday voted for the lowest possible residential property tax rate for 2026, homeowners will still see an increase to their tax bill next year.
The city council voted Tuesday for a residential property tax rate of $13.28 per $1,000 of assessed value and a commercial, industrial and personal property tax rate of $29.06 per $1,000.
Residential property owners will see, on average, a 3.4% or a $169 increase on their single-family tax bill, according to a chart that City Assessor Samuel Konieczny provided to the council.
Owners of commercial property taxes would see, on average, a 4.24% or $568 increase on their tax bill, according to the chart.
The rates were based on the average single-family home and commercial assessed values in Worcester for Fiscal Year 2026.
According to the chart, the average single-family home assessed value is $410,086, a 2.71% increase from Fiscal Year 2025. The average commercial assessed value is $1,293,956, a 2.25% increase from last fiscal year. As assessed values increase, tax bills increase too.
The rates are higher than last year’s tax rates. The current residential tax rate is $13.19 per $1,000 of assessed value, according to the city’s website.
The current commercial, industrial and personal property tax rate is $28.61 per $1,000.
City Councilor-at-Large Morris Bergman spoke in favor of voting for the lowest possible tax rate during Tuesday night’s meeting, saying only 44 of Worcester’s businesses would see tax hikes under that rate. He noted, however, that no matter what option the council picks, some property owners won’t be happy.
“This is one of the nights I least like coming to city council, because it seems like you can’t make anybody happy,” Bergman said. “We just don’t make a lot of friends when we do this, and they’re difficult decisions.”
Councilor-at-Large Kathleen Toomey, however, spoke in favor of setting residential rates at residential $13.30 and commercial rates at $28.98. Toomey said the rates she supports would be closer to last year’s rates.
District 1 Councilor Jenny Pacillo also expressed support of the rates favored by Toomey, saying it slightly reduces the commercial rate while also keeping residential rates lower.
“At the end of the day, I don’t want to live in a city where the only businesses who could afford to be here are chain restaurants,” Pacillo said. “I would live in Phoenix if that was the case.”
The council ultimately voted against Toomey’s proposal, with only Toomey, Pacillo and Mayor Joseph Petty voting yes.
The council unanimously voted in favor of the lowest tax rates.
In addition to single-family homes, the average apartment tax bill will increase by 9.48% compared to 2025, the average three-family home tax bill will increase by 3.82%, the average two-family home tax bill will increase by 6.10% and the average condominium tax bill will increase by 4.39%, according to the chart.
Additionally, the council unanimously approved two tax-relief recommendations from City Manager Eric D. Batista.
The first recommendation approved by the council was the adoption of Massachusetts General Law Chapter 59, Section 5, Clause 54. The clause exempts personal property accounts of $10,000 and lower from receiving a tax bill.
The clause can only go into effect if a city or town accepts it, according to the law.
The second recommendation approved by the council was an exemption program for senior citizens.
The program gives seniors a property tax reduction of $700. In addition to the tax reduction, a double elderly abatement program, which would give seniors $1,400 in property tax relief, will be implemented.
A total of 243 seniors would be eligible to participate in the program, according to Batista.
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