Just in time for town meetings, Island voters have a new online calculator to indicate how much the proposed Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School building project would raise property taxes over the coming years.
The town-by-town calculator, released Friday on the high school building project website, allows anyone to submit the assessed value of a property and see how its taxes would increase if voters approve the school renovation and addition at an all-Island election on June 2.
“It was important to us to get this calculator out there for our residents so they could see, as clearly as we can measure it, what the effect of our project may be, down to the individual person,” school business manager Mark Friedman told the Gazette Friday.
“We want people to understand this project,” he said.
The school would need to borrow $258 million for the $333.5 million building project, which also would receive funding from the Massachusetts School Building Authority as long as Island voters agree to pay their share. The actual costs will surpass $400 million when the project’s 30-year debt service is taken into account.
School business director Mark Friedman told the Gazette that Unibank, the project’s bond consultant, estimates the total costs of principal and interest at $445,873,270 by the time the loan is retired in 2062.
The capital costs of the building project would be divided among the six Island towns according to a formula municipal leaders approved in 2022.
“The calculator is using the Unibank 30-year annual projection of principal and interest costs and the new regional formula to measure the effect on each town’s tax rate,” Mr. Friedman said.
Each town’s share is based 70 per cent on its high school enrollment and 30 per cent on its equalized property values, Mr. Friedman said, with Oak Bluffs receiving a 1 per cent exemption on its share to make up for the municipal services it provides the high school.
Borrowing for the project would take place in three stages, as outlined last month by bond consultant Lynne Walsh of Unibank.
First, a short-term note for about $22 million would provide a year’s worth of cash flow for the building project, Ms. Walsh said.
The majority of the cost would be borrowed in 2028 to cover the project through early 2029, she said.
The final borrowing would come after the Massachusetts School Building Authority has audited the finished school and agreed on all qualified reimbursements, Ms. Walsh said.
The three phases of borrowing would be reflected in additional property taxes that begin at $10 to $30 per $1 million of assessed value in 2028, rising into the hundreds of dollars per $1 million for most of the ensuing 30 years before returning to zero in 2063.
Down-Island towns, which send the most children to the regional high school, would pay the highest additional taxes.
Non-resident property owners in Tisbury would pay an annual $640 on every $1 million of assessed value from 2033 to 2058, the years when the debt will be at its highest.
Tisbury homeowners who qualify for the town’s residential tax exemption will pay $417.81 over the same period.
In Oak Bluffs, non-resident property owners would pay $540 per $1 million per year from 2033 to 2058 and homeowners with the residential exemption would pay $432.23.
In Edgartown, which has no residential exemption, property taxes would rise by $290 per $1 million during each of the peak years of 2033-2058.
Aquinnah is looking at $360 per $1 million and Chilmark at $200 per $1 million for the same period, while West Tisbury homeowners would pay $440 if they are non-resident and $181.04 if they qualify for the town’s residential exemption.
The Martha’s Vineyard Regional High School property tax impact calculator is posted at mvrhsbuildingproject.info/tax-calculator-home.
ESTIMATED TAX IMPACT PER $1,000,000 ASSESSED VALUE
Aquinnah:
2027: $0
2028: $20
2029-2030: $230
2031-2032: $340
2033-2058: $360
2059-2060: $140
2061-2062: $20
2063: $0
Chilmark
2027: $0
2028: $10
2029-2030: $120
2031-2032: $190
2033 – 2058: $200
2059-2060: $80
2061-2062: $10
2063: $0
Edgartown
2027: $0
2028: $10
2029-2030: $180
2031-2032: $270
2033 – 2058: $290
2059-2060: $110
2061-2062: $10
2063: $0
Oak Bluffs (non-resident)
2027: $0
2028: $30
2029-2030: $330
2031-2032: $510
2033 – 2058: $540
2059-2060: $200
2061-2062: $30
2063: $0
Oak Bluffs (with residential exemption)
2027: $0
2028: $24.01
2029-2030: $264.14
2031-2032: $408.22
2033 – 2058: $432.23
2059-2060: $160.09
2061-2062: $24.01
2063: $0
Tisbury (non-resident)
2027: $0
2028: $30
2029-2030: $420
2031-2032: $640
2033 – 2058: $670
2059-2060: $260
2061-2062: $30 (.03)
2063: $0
Tisbury (with residential exemption)
2027: $0
2028: $18.71
2029-2030: $261.91
2031-2032: $399.10
2033 – 2058: $417.81
2059-2060: $162.14
2061-2062: $18.71
2063: $0
West Tisbury (non-resident)
2027: $0
2028: $20
2029-2030: $270
2031-2032: $420
2033 – 2058: $440
2059-2060: $170
2061-2062: $20
2063: $0
West Tisbury (with residential exemption)
2027: $0
2028: $8.23
2029-2030: $111.10
2031-2032: $172.81
2033 – 2058: $181.04
2059-2060: $69.95
2061-2062: $8.23
2063: $0
Editor's note: The school district revised the calculator after it was released, to reflect the varying tax rates in towns with residential property tax exemptions. This article has been updated with the new figures.
This article appears in April 17, 2026.
the easy out is to just say no. and a big no to any more overrides, and affordable housing, and any more scams you want us to approve…
Michael — what’s your actual solution here?
The current high school is in serious disrepair. It’s an embarrassment for the Island, and it didn’t happen overnight. We got here by underfunding it for years and kicking the can down the road instead of paying what it actually costs to maintain something this important.
Now the bill is coming due, and suddenly it’s a “scam”?
Island towns consistently rank in the bottom quartile in the state for property taxes. That’s been convenient for a long time, but it also means we haven’t been paying our fair share to support core infrastructure like schools. This is the predictable result.
So what’s the alternative? No high school? Continue to let it deteriorate?
It’s easy to say no to everything. It’s harder to acknowledge that living in a functioning community means investing in it, especially when it comes to educating kids and supporting the next generation.
Well said Tom! I must quote you: “It’s harder to acknowledge that living in a functioning community means investing in it, especially when it comes to educating kids and supporting the next generation.” I am weary of hearing “I dont have kids in the school, why should I pay?” We have an older demographic on the island, particularly in my town. I remind them that living in a society requires investing in it. And we do it for the greater good, not just for things that benefit us personally. Educating our children is at the top of that list and, in the end, we all benefit.
Well said. One additional point: the building will need significant repair if this does not go through. Those costs will be incremental and very high. Ultimately, we would likely end up paying more and end up with a less sufficient school with more Band-Aids. let’s not make the same mistake as Tisbury – they rejected the first plan, doubling the cost with the new plan.
One affordable solution used by many school districts throughout the country are modular bolt on units. Combine this with repairs to the existing physical plant and you have an “adequate” solution that will cost substantially less. “Adequate” is the key word here. We don’t need, and shouldn’t be in the business of building “country club” schools.
This project will need a million dollars a year put into a stabilization fund to keep this building maintained. Otherwise they will keep coming back for more money to replace windows, roofs or HVAC systems. the reason all these systems fail is because of lack of maintenance or inferior materials used in a low bid contracts. Lets keep these costs honest upfront
This is out of control…. Yes, we need to fix/repair high school… we do not have to spend this outrageous amount of money to achieve that..
A very important question. Why did the existing high shoo fall into such disrepair?
This is quite simple. Every year the guidance is a tiny budget increase from every town. Last year was a negotiation year and thank goodness the schools made progress towards salaries. So how do the budgets stay away from the dreaded override. Simple. No upgrades to the physical plant. Do that for 10 or 15 years and we are in this mess. Find a fincom that says tell us what you need. That never happens. Find a taxpayer that says tell us what you need. Never happens and here we are.
Multi millions from sitting duck taxpayers as we are globally thirty eighth or thirty ninth, shame. Throwing more money does not raise our academic standards. We spend more in this country with abysmal results.
This is not sustainable .
Lisa – I agree. Paying property taxes in the bottom 10% of the state while our schools deteriorate is not sustainable.
How about taking care of the building you already have and not trying to stick it to island taxpayers.
Bring k-12 back to home towns. The dissenters in 1959 were right.
You gotta love, or not, Tisbury and W Tisbury sticking it to the season owners who not only have more expensive homes than year rounders (so pay more regardless), on average, but do not use the schools! Disgraceful.
Tom – Speaking of disgraceful, I’ll just leave this here for you: Boston’s residential tax exemption reduces property taxes for owner-occupied homes by excluding a portion of the home’s assessed value from taxation, saving homeowners up to roughly $4,300 per year. To qualify, you must own and occupy the property as your primary residence, typically as of January 1 (with some flexibility for purchases through June 30), and you can only claim it on one home.
My question is, what happens over 30 years as our property taxes go up? Does this calculator reflect that or is this the number only? If my house now is estimated at 1.8 in 30 years it could be 2.8 so do i pay even more then and also once this is paid off do our taxes go back down because loans are paid?
I strongly support building a new high school, but my research tells me that $330 million is a very large number for a school of this size, and taxpayers will carry the cost for decades. There is no question it costs significantly more to build on Martha’s Vineyard — but even accounting for that, this project is at the high end of comparable Massachusetts schools.
Some of this is unavoidable, but some reflects choices about scope and features. It would be helpful for voters to see what a high-quality, non-extravagant version would cost, and what is driving the difference. With apologies to the Building Committee, and they worked hard to get us to this point, but voters need more information to get to “YES.”
As an architect I can honestly say the high school needs help…. Does it need this?? No.
We need to look at all options, not just the wrecking ball.
A question I ask is how did the high school get in such disrepair in the first place? We are now going ask the taxpayers for millions of dollars?? Then what?
Who was watching over the school maintenance for all the years? These are some real questions that need to be asked. Will this happen again in 10-15 years? Is there a maintenance plan in place in this budget?
Finally would it be nice to have all the amenities, yes….
It is like I always told my children, buy what you can afford.