Most meetings in Eastham are in person, typically with an online-attendance option. Click on the meeting you are interested in on the calendar at eastham-ma.gov for details. All meetings are at Town Hall unless otherwise indicated.
Thursday, Aug. 7
- Board of Assessors, 11 a.m.
- Zoning Board of Appeals — canceled
Monday, Aug. 11
- Strategic Planning Committee, 2 p.m.
- Energy & Climate Action Committee, 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 12
- Conservation Commission on-site, 8:15 a.m.
- Historical Commission hearing, 10:30 a.m., Public Library
- Historical Commission, 11 a.m., Public Library
- Capital Projects Committee, 3 p.m.
- Conservation Commission, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Aug. 14
- Affordable Housing Trust, 9 a.m.
Conversation Starter
Exemption Applications
Select board member Aimee Eckman told the board on July 21 that the town hadn’t received as many residential tax exemption (RTE) applications as were expected. She said the assessor’s office had received just over 800 applications — many fewer than the roughly 2,500 owner-occupied year-round residences in town, according to data compiled by the Cape Cod Commission.
While an RTE hasn’t been formally enacted in Eastham, the select board indicated in January that it would adopt one during the fiscal 2026 tax classification hearing. That hearing is scheduled for Sept. 8.
“It’s not a cumbersome application, and assessing is happy to help,” said Town Manager Jacqui Beebe. But, she said, the application “really needs to be done within the next two months.”
That’s because the town’s assessing dept. needs to know how many year-round residents are claiming the exemption before it can calculate the overall property tax rate to offset the exempted amount of tax revenue. The RTE is designed to be revenue-neutral.
Usually, the tax classification hearing is held in August, but select board chair Jerry Cerasale said he wanted the meeting to be pushed back to give residents more time to apply for the RTE.
Cerasale doesn’t like the tax exemption that benefits year-round residents, but he said in May that “if we’re going to do RTE, we’re going to do it right.” —Parker Mumford
