Whately Board of Assessors Unanimously Ends Farm Machinery Excise Tax

WHATELY -- June 4, 2026, Whately Board of Assessors votes to permanently eliminate the farm machinery excise tax. Meeting on June 4, the three-member board voted unanimously to end the self-reported personal property assessment effective fiscal year 2026 and all future years, after learning that no survey forms had been mailed to farm operators this cycle and that revenue had collapsed from roughly $7,000 in fiscal years 2022 and 2023 to approximately $1,510 anticipated for the most recent period. RRG, the board's assessing consultant serving nearly 40 Massachusetts towns, reported through staff that none of its other municipal clients tax farm machinery as personal property. Because the personal property abatement deadline had already passed, farmers who self-reported and paid for fiscal year 2026 will receive no refund. The board also signed Chapter 61 lien documents transferring agricultural land classification for a Chestnut Mountain Road parcel to new owner Lynn Quabbin, and raised unresolved questions about the paper trail behind an email-approved property tax settlement with a separate landowner, requesting that RRG provide a final copy of the settlement letter and an updated property record card before the next meeting, tentatively set for July 9.