The Billerica, MA property tax rate for fiscal year 2026 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 estimate your bill, multiply your assessed value by the rate and divide by 1,000. A home assessed at $550,000 owes $6,385.50 before any exemptions. A commercial property at the same value owes $14,234.
Why Residential and Business Rates Differ
Billerica’s Select Board votes each year on whether to use a single uniform rate or a split rate. For FY2026, the board chose the split, which taxes businesses at roughly double the residential rate to keep homeowner bills lower. Massachusetts law permits this through what’s called a classification shift, and the Board of Assessors submits the classification data to the state Department of Revenue each year for certification before the rates take effect.2Massachusetts Department of Revenue. Assessment Administration: Law, Procedures and Valuation – Property Tax Classification
Both the rate and your assessed value change every year, so last year’s bill is not a reliable predictor of this year’s. If town-wide values rise but the budget stays flat, the rate drops to compensate. Budgets rarely stay flat.
How Your Assessment Is Set
The Billerica Board of Assessors values every taxable property each year. Under Massachusetts law, the assessment must reflect “full and fair cash value,” meaning 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 use a mass appraisal system that draws on recent sales, building permits, and property characteristics rather than appraising each parcel individually. The Department of Revenue certifies that assessments track market value on a triennial cycle, with reviews in the years between.
When You Pay
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, due February 1 and May 1, are the actual bills that reflect the current assessment and newly certified rate. Any difference between what you paid in the preliminary quarters and what you actually owe gets reconciled in the final two payments.
Miss a deadline and interest accrues at 14% per year on the unpaid balance, calculated from the original due date.3General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts Code Chapter 59 – Section 57 That rate is set by state law. On a $6,000 annual bill where you miss a $1,500 quarterly payment, you’d add about $17.50 in interest each month until it’s paid.
If your mortgage lender holds an escrow account, the bank pays the town directly. Check with the town after each due date to confirm the payment landed on time; if the bank pays late, the interest penalty attaches to the property, and sorting it out becomes your problem.
Exemptions That Reduce Your Bill
Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 59, Section 5 creates several exemptions that lower your tax bill directly rather than reducing your assessed value.4Mass.gov. Massachusetts General Laws c.59 Section 5 – Property; Exemptions You can generally only claim one per year, and each has its own eligibility rules. Applications are due about three months after actual tax bills go out, which in Billerica’s quarterly cycle means an April 1 deadline. The assessors cannot waive this deadline, so filing late forfeits the exemption for that year.
Seniors (Clause 41C)
Homeowners 65 or older can apply for a Clause 41C exemption worth $800 in Billerica. A single applicant’s income cannot exceed $20,000 ($30,000 if married), and total assets cannot exceed $40,000 for a single person or $55,000 for a married couple.5Massachusetts Department of Revenue – Division of Local Services. Property Tax Exemption Clauses Adopted The property must be your primary residence.
Veterans (Clauses 22 Through 22E)
Disabled veterans qualify for exemptions that scale with disability severity. Amounts range from $400 for a veteran with at least a 10% service-connected disability rating or a Purple Heart, to $750 for veterans who lost a hand, foot, or eye in service or were prisoners of war, to $1,000 for veterans with a 100% disability rating, up to a full exemption for veterans who are paraplegic or have 100% service-connected blindness.6Mass.gov. Local Property Tax Exemptions for Veterans Surviving spouses who have not remarried are eligible at the same tier the veteran would have received. You’ll need a DD-214 to apply.
Legally Blind Residents (Clause 37A)
Residents certified as legally blind by the Massachusetts Commission for the Blind can apply for a Clause 37A exemption, which pays more than the standard Clause 37 benefit of $437.50.
Surviving Spouses, Minor Children, and Seniors 70+ (Clause 17D)
Clause 17D provides a $175 exemption for surviving spouses who have not remarried, minor children who lost a parent, and residents 70 or older. Total assets (excluding the home, clothing, and household furnishings) must stay under 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.
The Senior and Veteran Work-Off Program
Billerica also runs a tax work-off program that lets qualifying residents earn up to $1,500 off their tax bill by volunteering up to 100 hours for the town. Hours short of 100 are credited at $15 per hour.7Billerica Council on Aging. Senior and Veteran’s Tax Work-off Program
Seniors must be at least 60. Veterans of any age qualify but must provide a DD-214. All participants must own and live in the home, have their name on the deed, and pass a background check. Enrollment is capped at 125 people on a first-come, first-served basis, and spots typically fill quickly after applications open in early April. The credit can stack with a statutory exemption if you qualify for both.
If You Think Your Assessment Is Wrong
If your property looks overvalued compared to similar homes nearby, you can file an abatement application with the Board of Assessors. For towns on a quarterly billing cycle like Billerica, the deadline is the due date of the third-quarter bill, typically February 1.8Secretary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Property Tax Information This is a hard deadline. A mailed application must be postmarked by that date. Miss it and you lose the right to challenge the assessment for that fiscal year.
Call or visit the assessors’ office before filing. Staff can walk you through how they arrived at your value and may fix an error without a formal application. If you do file, bring evidence: recent sale prices of comparable homes, documentation of conditions the assessors may not know about such as structural problems or 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.9Mass.gov. Real Estate Tax Appeals: A Helpful Guide for Taxpayers and Assessors
If You Don’t Pay
Unpaid property taxes in Massachusetts escalate quickly. If a bill goes 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 start a tax taking, which places a lien on your property.10Mass.gov. Tax Lien Foreclosure Informational Outline
Once the taking is recorded, the unpaid amount earns 8% simple interest annually for the town. Six to twelve months later, the town can file a foreclosure case in Land Court. You can reclaim the property by paying the full amount owed at any time before the court enters a judgment of foreclosure. After judgment, your ownership ends and there is no further right to redeem.11Mass.gov. Frequently Asked Questions About Tax Lien Foreclosure Cases in the Land Court Most homeowners never get close to that point, but the timeline from a missed payment to serious consequences is shorter than people expect.