For fiscal year 2026, the Billerica MA property tax rate is $11.61 per $1,000 of assessed value for residential property and $25.88 per $1,000 for commercial, industrial, and personal property.1Patriot Properties. Billerica, MA WebPro – FY2026 Tax Rates To find your bill, multiply your property’s assessed value by the rate and divide by 1,000. A home assessed at $550,000 owes $6,385.50 before any exemptions.
Why Homes and Businesses Pay Different Rates
Billerica uses a split tax rate, which taxes businesses at roughly double the residential rate. The Select Board votes each year on whether to keep the split or adopt a single uniform rate, and for FY2026 the board kept it split.1Patriot Properties. Billerica, MA WebPro – FY2026 Tax Rates Massachusetts law lets municipalities shift part of the tax burden away from residential property and onto commercial and industrial property through a classification shift.2Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Assessment Administration: Law, Procedures and Valuation – Property Tax Classification The Board of Assessors submits the classification data to the Massachusetts Department of Revenue for certification before rates take effect.
Proposition 2½ caps how much total property tax revenue the town can raise, limiting annual levy growth to 2.5% plus revenue from new construction. That cap applies to the town’s total collections, not to your individual bill. If your assessment jumps, your bill can rise well above 2.5% even when the town stays within its limit.
How Your Property Is Assessed
The Billerica Board of Assessors sets the value of every taxable property each year. Under Massachusetts law, assessments must reflect “full and fair cash value,” which means the price a willing buyer would pay a willing seller in an open-market transaction. The valuation date is January 1 of the year preceding the fiscal year, so FY2026 assessments reflect market conditions as of January 1, 2025.
Assessors work from a mass appraisal system that analyzes recent sales, building permits, and property characteristics across town rather than individually appraising each parcel. The Department of Revenue certifies that Billerica’s assessments track market value on a triennial cycle, with adjustments reviewed in the interim years. The rate and the assessment do different jobs: the rate is a policy choice about how to distribute the burden, and the assessment is meant to reflect what your property would actually sell for. When home values rise across town and the budget stays flat, the rate drops to compensate. Budgets rarely stay flat.
Challenging Your Assessment
If your property looks overvalued or assessed unfairly compared with similar homes nearby, you can file an abatement application with the Board of Assessors. For towns on a quarterly billing cycle like Billerica, the abatement deadline falls on the due date of the third-quarter bill, which is typically February 1.3Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Property Tax Information This is a hard deadline. Mailed applications must be postmarked by that date, and missing it means losing the right to challenge that fiscal year’s assessment.
Before filing, call or visit the assessors’ office. Staff can walk through how they arrived at your value and may catch an error without a formal application. If you do file, gather evidence: recent sale prices of comparable homes in your neighborhood, documentation of property conditions the assessors may not know about (structural problems, flood damage), and photographs. The assessors have three months to act. If they deny the application or don’t respond within that window, you can appeal to the state Appellate Tax Board within three months of the denial or deemed denial.4Mass.gov. Real Estate Tax Appeals: A Helpful Guide for Taxpayers and Assessors
Exemptions That Reduce Your Bill
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 59, Section 5 creates several property tax exemptions for qualifying Billerica residents.5Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws c.59 Section 5 – Property; Exemptions Exemptions cut your tax bill directly rather than reducing your assessed value. You can generally only claim one per year, and each has its own rules.
Senior Exemption (Clause 41C)
Homeowners aged 65 or older can apply for a Clause 41C exemption worth $800 in Billerica. Income cannot exceed $20,000 for a single applicant or $30,000 if married, and total assets cannot exceed $40,000 for a single person or $55,000 for a married couple.6Massachusetts Department of Revenue – Division of Local Services. Property Tax Exemption Clauses Adopted The property must be your primary residence.
Veteran Exemptions (Clauses 22 Through 22E)
Disabled veterans qualify for exemptions that scale with the severity of a service-connected disability. Amounts start at $400 for a veteran with at least a 10% disability rating or a Purple Heart and reach a full tax exemption for veterans who are paraplegic or have 100% service-connected blindness. Tiers in between include $750 for veterans who lost a hand, foot, or eye in service or were prisoners of war, and $1,000 for veterans with a 100% disability rating.7Mass.gov. Local Property Tax Exemptions for Veterans A surviving spouse who has not remarried qualifies at the same tier the veteran would have received.
Blind Person Exemption (Clause 37A)
Legally blind residents can apply for a Clause 37A exemption. The standard Clause 37 exemption provides $437.50, and Clause 37A offers a higher benefit. Applicants need certification of legal blindness from the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind.
Surviving Spouses and Seniors (Clause 17D)
Clause 17D provides a $175 exemption for surviving spouses who have not remarried, minor children who lost a parent, and seniors aged 70 or older. Total assets, excluding the home, clothing, and household furnishings, cannot exceed roughly $83,000. You must have owned and occupied the property as your primary residence for at least five years and lived in Massachusetts for at least ten years before the tax year.
Exemption Deadlines
Exemption applications are generally due three months after actual tax bills are mailed, which under Billerica’s quarterly billing cycle means an April 1 deadline. The assessors cannot waive this deadline for any reason, so filing late forfeits the exemption for the year. Have your supporting documents ready: a DD-214 for veteran exemptions, medical certification for blindness-related exemptions, and income and asset records for senior exemptions.
Senior and Veteran Tax Work-Off Program
Billerica runs a work-off program that lets qualifying residents earn up to $1,500 off their tax bill in exchange for up to 100 hours of volunteer service for the town. Partial hours are credited at $15 per hour.8Billerica Council on Aging. Senior and Veteran’s Tax Work-off Program
Seniors must be at least 60 years old to participate. Veterans of any age qualify but must provide a DD-214. All applicants must own and live in the home, have their name on the deed, and pass a background check. The program caps enrollment at 125 participants on a first-come, first-served basis, and spots typically fill quickly after applications open in early April.8Billerica Council on Aging. Senior and Veteran’s Tax Work-off Program The work-off credit stacks with statutory exemptions for residents who qualify for both.
When to Pay and What Happens if You Don’t
Billerica bills property taxes quarterly. The first two installments, due August 1 and November 1, are preliminary bills based on half of the prior year’s total tax. The third and fourth installments, due February 1 and May 1, are actual bills that reflect the current assessment and the newly certified rate. Any gap between what you paid in the preliminary quarters and what you actually owe gets reconciled in these final two payments.
Miss a deadline and interest accrues at 14% per year on the unpaid balance, calculated from the original due date.9General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 59 – Section 57 That rate is set by state law and isn’t negotiable. If your lender pays taxes through an escrow account, check with the town after each quarterly due date to confirm the payment actually cleared. When the bank pays late, the interest penalty attaches to the property, and sorting it out becomes your problem.
If a bill stays unpaid for more than 30 days, the tax collector must mail a formal demand. If you still don’t pay within 14 days of that demand, the collector can initiate a tax taking, which creates a lien on your property.10Mass.gov. Tax Lien Foreclosure Informational Outline Once recorded, the unpaid amount earns 8% simple interest annually for the town. Six to twelve months after the taking, the town can file a foreclosure case in Land Court. You can reclaim the property by paying the full amount owed at any point before the court enters a judgment of foreclosure. After that judgment, ownership ends and there is no further right to redeem.11Mass.gov. Frequently Asked Questions About Tax Lien Foreclosure Cases in the Land Court