Residents at South Deerfield’s Sugarloaf Condominiums call for reform amid skyrocketing tax bills

SOUTH DEERFIELD — Sugarloaf Condominiums residents voiced concerns with a 35% to 40% jump in their property tax bills to Deerfield Selectboard members this week.

Marsha Martin, president of the Sugarloaf Condominium Association, told the Selectboard that after reading about the roughly $382, or 6.5%, bump in the average tax bill for single-family homeowners in fiscal year 2026, she expected to see a similar increase in her tax bill. But after noticing a 39% hike of $2,772 over last fiscal year’s numbers, Martin was shocked.

“This discrepancy is concerning, prejudicial, and based on our age and turnover of our homes,” Martin said.

MA Swedlund, another Sugarloaf Condominiums resident who spoke to the Selectboard, owns two units at Sugarloaf Condominiums with her husband, and they rent out the smaller unit. Swedlund’s tax bill included a 39% increase of $2,009 for the smaller unit and a 39.5%, or $2,368, increase for the larger one.

Martin sent the Selectboard data she collected comparing the property assessment value per square foot at Sugarloaf Condominiums, an average of $333.85 per square foot, to other streets nearby. According to her calculations, the average assessment per square foot for homes on Crestview Drive came to 14.6% lower than Sugarloaf Condominiums and 42.74% lower at King Philip Avenue homes.

“We’re an outlier, and we’re an outlier for a very good reason I think, because we’re older and we’re going to be constantly turning over our real estate,” Martin told the Selectboard.

Martin added that Sugarloaf Condominiums stands as the only retirement community for residents ages 55 and older in South Deerfield, and the majority of residents in the neighborhood are more than 70 years old. With aging older residents, Martin and Swedlund argued that sales occur more frequently, leading to more frequent property assessments and, in turn, significant increases to Sugarloaf Condominiums residents’ tax bills.

“This is the last stop, right?” Martin said.

“I know a lot of this has to do with the [Board of Assessors]; this is really an assessor issue,” Selectboard Chair Trevor McDaniel responded. He added that he does not expect a drastic rise in property assessments and tax bills next year, a point with which Swedlund and Martin disagreed.

As a “very desirable” spot for aging older residents, “Our concern is that it’s very likely to be repeated next year and the year after and the year after,” Swedlund said.

Martin worried about high property tax bills driving residents at the condominium complex to leave.

“Not everybody here can afford this. … It’s too much,” Martin said in a phone interview.

On the phone, Swedlund and Martin said a few residents are seeking property tax abatements, as Selectboard member Tim Hilchey encouraged, but they called for a long-term solution. Swedlund mentioned a townwide property tax relief program for senior housing and retirement communities, and the passage of S.2899, “An Act to Prevent Property Tax Bill Shocks” amending Chapter 59 of Massachusetts General Laws to include additions like “senior qualifying property.”

“It seems like this is on the state’s mind and for good reason,” Martin said.

Swedlund and Martin plan to speak with the Board of Assessors about a path forward to prevent similar tax bill increases in the future.

“I’m hoping that the assessors and Selectboard hear us,” Swedlund said.

Attempts to reach a Board of Assessors member were unsuccessful by press time.

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