Seven Villages, Janet Joakim

If your home’s assessed value is less than $900,000 and is considered your first home or primary residence, you are saving between $400 and $600 a year on your property tax bills. Your home should be assessed based on the value MINUS $105,000.00 — saving you money.

This year in order to validate that your home is your primary residence you received a form in the mail that needs to be filled out and mailed into the assessors office. If you didn’t receive this form or misplaced it, or if you have any questions at all about this, please contact the assessor’s office, (508-862-4022) For a copy of the form, or more information please follow these links:
- the application form for the residential exemption:  http://www.town.barnstable.ma.us/Assessing/FY10ResExemptForm.pdf
- handout explaining the application form:  http://www.town.barnstable.ma.us/Assessing/ResExemptHandout-FY2010.pdf
- background information about the residential exemption:  http://www.town.barnstable.ma.us/Assessing/BkgdResExmpt10.pdf

When the local papers report on the tax classification issues they do not report on the residential exemption. In 2005 when a councilor pushed to present the tax classification issue as a non-binding ballot question, I insisted that we put the residential exemption on the ballot as well. This is what saves homeowners in our area money.

Each year there is a debate about whether to allow this exemption, and each year I advocate that we continue apply this exemption.

Unlike the savings of between $20-40 the split tax offered as adopted in FY06, the residential exemption saves year-round residents much more because of the large number of high-value second homes in Barnstable. I will continue to advocate for this tax relief measure that saves you money.