West Newbury Approves Single Tax Rate, Projects $10.15 FY26 Tax Rate

WEST NEWBURY — October 30, 2025 — West Newbury Select Board sets a projected FY26 tax rate of $10.15 per thousand — down from last year's $10.80 — and unanimously declined all optional property-tax exemptions at its October 30 meeting. Chief Assessor Christian presented a classification package showing the town's total taxable valuation rose 9.3 percent to $1.67 billion, with the median single-family residence assessed at approximately $909,900; at the projected rate, contingent on a free-cash transfer vote at the November 3 Special Town Meeting, the median tax bill will be about $9,235, up roughly $172, or 1.9 percent, from FY25. The board also voted unanimously to allow outside water counsel Attorney Donna Brewer of Harrington Heap to represent Haverhill on a limited Whittier Regional matter, but declined to act on a parallel request to designate the special water counsel position as a special municipal employee, asking for written materials first. In a lengthy discussion of Article 3 at Monday's town meeting — a request to appropriate $161,938.85 in Water Department stabilization funds to cover a Church Street main project overrun — board members detailed quantity discrepancies in paving tonnage and said the Select Board had no authority over the Water Department's contracting, a distinction they said they would make clear if asked on the floor.