Eastham Property Tax: A High Rate, a Split Board, and a First-Ever Exemption

The FY2026 Rate: $7.71 for Residential, $7.66 for Everything Else

Eastham's FY2026 tax rate is $7.71 per $1,000 of assessed value for residential property, and $7.66 per $1,000 for commercial, industrial, and personal property - confirmed directly via the town's own Assessing Department page (eastham-ma.gov/159/Assessing). A separate town-by-town FY2026 compilation from Cape Cod Bliss lists Eastham's headline rate as $7.71, describing it as "unchanged from FY2025." Read that as the residential figure holding flat year over year, not as evidence the residential and commercial classes were split apart in FY2025 too - this page states only what's directly confirmed.

A rate just above $7.70 might not sound dramatic on its own, but it's meaningfully higher than several of Eastham's Cape Cod neighbors, a point worth understanding before assuming a rate this size is simply typical for the region.

How We Got Here: A Long Climb in Assessed Value

The tax rate is only half the equation - the other half is what it's applied to, and Eastham's assessed residential values have climbed sharply over the past quarter-century. Per the town's own materials cited in its April 2025 residential-tax-exemption debate, the average assessed home value moved from $192,300 in 2000, to $393,000 in 2015, to $816,000 in 2024 - roughly a fourfold increase in a decade and a half, then a further doubling in less than ten years after that.

That curve matters for context: a rate near $7.71 per $1,000 applied against a $816,000 assessment produces a materially larger bill today than the same rate would have against a $393,000 assessment in 2015, even before accounting for the rate's own year-to-year movement. It's also the backdrop against which the town's new exemption debate played out - a Select Board weighing how much relief to offer against a tax base that's grown enormously in assessed terms.

FY2026's Real Story: Eastham's First-Ever Residential Tax Exemption

FY2026 is Eastham's first year with a residential tax exemption (RTE) of any kind - a genuinely new policy, not a longstanding one being adjusted. Per the Provincetown Independent (Sept. 10, 2025, "This Year's RTE in Eastham Will Be Just 3 Percent"), the Select Board voted 3-2 to adopt a 3% exemption, "joining the other three Outer Cape towns" - Wellfleet, Truro, and Provincetown - "for the first time." Some regional compilations describe Eastham as a town that "already utilizes" a residential exemption, grouping it in with towns that have had one for years; that framing is inaccurate for FY2026, which is Eastham's inaugural year with the program.

The 3% figure was itself the product of a real, named disagreement on the board rather than a routine formality. Finance Director (and now Town Manager) Rich Bienvenue and Vice Chair Suzanne Bryan favored a deliberately cautious, phased approach - starting small and adjusting in future years rather than committing to a large exemption immediately. Board member Jamie Demetri argued for going further, pushing for 5% or higher. Public comment during the process cited neighboring towns already offering exemptions in the 20-35% range, well beyond what Eastham ultimately adopted. The 3-2 vote reflects that split directly: a board that agreed an exemption was overdue but did not agree on how large a first step should be.

In dollar terms, the exemption is modest. A 3% exemption works out to $24,332 off the town's average assessed residential value, saving roughly $116 a year for an average-value home. That's a real but small benefit - consistent with the "phased approach" framing from Bienvenue and Bryan, and a useful number to have in mind before assuming a first-ever exemption translates into a large tax cut.

How Eastham Compares Across the Cape

At $7.71 per $1,000, Eastham's FY2026 residential rate is on the higher end of Cape Cod's town-by-town spread. Sandwich sits highest at $10.19; Chatham sits lowest at $3.67. Eastham's rate is meaningfully higher than Mid-Cape towns like Dennis, whose FY2026 rate runs around $4.29 - nearly double Dennis's figure for a comparably sized coastal town.

That gap is worth stating plainly rather than downplaying: Eastham residents and prospective buyers are paying a rate closer to the Cape's upper bracket than its lower one, even as the town takes its first, cautious step toward exemption relief that other Outer Cape towns adopted years earlier.

Proposition 2½: The Statewide Cap Behind the Rate

Like every Massachusetts municipality, Eastham's levy operates under Proposition 2½, the 1980 statewide law that limits how quickly a town's total property tax collections can grow. It works through two related caps: a levy ceiling that keeps the total levy at or under 2.5% of the town's total assessed value, and a levy limit that restricts year-over-year levy growth to 2.5% regardless of how much individual property values rise. New construction falls outside that annual growth cap, so newly built homes and commercial space add tax revenue without counting against the limit, and a town can only exceed its regular growth cap through a voter-approved override or a debt exclusion tied to a specific borrowing purpose.

The cap slows the pace of levy growth, it doesn't freeze it - which is part of why Eastham's assessed values could climb from $192,300 to $816,000 over roughly two and a half decades even with Proposition 2½ in place throughout. It's a statewide mechanic rather than anything Eastham-specific, so it explains the gradual backdrop rather than why this particular year's rate or exemption landed where it did.

Confirming Current Figures Before You Rely on Them

Eastham's rate and its new exemption are both set annually, and a first-year 3% exemption is exactly the kind of policy that's likely to be revisited in future budget cycles given the board's own internal disagreement over whether it should have started higher. The $7.71 rate and 3% exemption reflect the most recent information found in the research behind this page, current as of mid-2026.

Before relying on any number here for a purchase decision, a rental pro forma, or a household budget, confirm the current rate, your property's specific assessed value, and current exemption eligibility directly with the Eastham Assessing Department. This page reflects independent research, not tax or legal advice, and a licensed tax professional should be consulted for guidance specific to your situation.