Dedham panel recommends senior tax break

Select Board · Meeting of October 8, 2026

Dedham's Select Board heard a study committee's recommendation for a new local senior property tax exemption. The nine-member Senior Property Tax Relief Policy Study Committee, chaired by Michael Leahy with Jimmy Katabowski as vice chair, found Dedham's 65-and-over population grew 13 percent over five years while townwide population stayed flat, and that senior median household income of about $67,000 trails the townwide median of nearly $130,000 by roughly $60,000. Member Stephen Acosta said seniors increasingly face choices between heating, medicine and food as utility costs rose 38 percent and property taxes rose 28.5 percent since 2022.

No vote was taken; Chair James A. MacDonald asked staff to prepare PILOT program data for a planned November review. The board separately announced a $409,248 state grant for the Lewis Playground and a $3 million tax credit that helped move forward a 154-unit housing project at 110 Sturgis Street.

In the full story:

• Joint Session With the Planning Board: Candidate No-Show
• Fire Department Promotions and New Hires
• Town Manager's Report: Grants and Development News
• Consent Agenda
• Public Hearing: Common Victualer License, Press Cafe
• Public Way Layout: Whiting Avenue and Walnut Street
• Public Hearing: Change of Manager, BJ's Wholesale Club
• Senior Property Tax Relief Policy Study Committee Report
• Old and New Business
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 2,908 words

Source: the Select Board meeting of October 8, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.