Peterborough's Tax Rate Fell by Nearly a Third. Why That Doesn't Make It the Cheap Town.

"Our total valuation is now $1,306,121,918, which is up by $300 million from previous years." Town Administrator Nicole MacStay said that at a Select Board meeting in November 2025. That one sentence explains most of what changed on Peterborough tax bills that year.

The board proposed a 2025 rate of $22.35 per $1,000 of assessed value. MacStay noted that this was more than $10 per thousand below the year before. She put the drop down to what she called a "tremendous jump" in the town's overall valuation. The town's assessing page shows the full history. The rate was $32.50 in 2024 and $22.35 in 2025, and the 2025 line carries the note "REVALUATION YEAR."

If you're comparing Monadnock towns, the problem starts here. On paper, Peterborough's $22.35 looks far friendlier than Keene's $34.37. Measured the way the state measures it, the two towns are about a dollar per thousand apart. Peterborough also comes out higher than Jaffrey, Dublin and Swanzey.

The rate dropped because the assessments went up

In New Hampshire the tax rate is what's left after a town divides the money it needs to raise by the total assessed value of its property. Peterborough completed a town-wide revaluation in 2025. State law requires one at least every five years. Total value went up by about $300 million, so the same budget spread over a bigger base produces a smaller rate.

The equalization ratio shows how far behind the old assessments had drifted. The state Department of Revenue Administration calculates this number every year. It measures how a town's assessed values compare with actual market value. Peterborough's ratio was 94.5% after its 2021 revaluation. It fell each year after that, to 80.1%, then 73.3%, and finally 69.1% in 2024. So by 2024, a typical Peterborough home was assessed at about seven-tenths of its market value. The revaluation brought assessments back in line with the market. The town page lists the 2025 ratio as 98.4%, while the state's 2025 comparison table shows 97.7%.

Here's what that means for a home worth $400,000, using the town's own ratios. This is just arithmetic for a home whose value moved with the town average. No actual bill is being quoted.

The rate fell 31%, but the implied bill moved by about two percent. Homes that gained more value than the town average could see a higher bill under the lower rate. Homes that gained less could see a bigger drop. The rate alone won't tell you which group a particular house is in.

A widely shared example ran both years' rates against a $400,000 assessed value: $13,000 in 2024 and $8,940 in 2025. The same article mentions that the revaluation "raised the assessed value of most homes." The arithmetic is correct, but most homes didn't keep the same assessed value from one year to the next.

Comparing towns at full value

The Department of Revenue Administration publishes a full-value tax rate for every municipality. The full-value rate measures taxes against each town's equalized value, which the state sets at market level. That way you're comparing taxes against actual market value and not against assessments that may be years out of date. Here are the 2025 figures for Peterborough and four nearby towns, the most recent comparison available.

Keene's local rate is $12 per thousand higher than Peterborough's. Its full-value rate is just 67 cents higher. The reason is that Keene's assessments sit at about 62% of market, so its rate gets applied to a smaller number. Peterborough just revalued, so its rate gets applied to nearly the full market value.

As a rough guide, multiply market value by the full-value rate. For a $400,000 home in 2025, that's about $8,160 in Peterborough and $8,428 in Keene. Jaffrey comes to about $7,076, Swanzey about $6,652 and Dublin about $6,572. Exemptions, credits and each home's own assessment will change the real bill. The order of the towns stays the same either way. Peterborough is in the upper half of this group, which its local rate doesn't show.

Where this trips people up during a purchase

Tax figures travel with a listing, and they can come from any year. A figure from before the revaluation pairs the old 2024 assessment with the old rate. A figure from after pairs the new assessment with $22.35. Mixing the two, or comparing a Peterborough figure with a Keene figure the same way you'd compare sticker prices, can throw off a monthly budget by hundreds of dollars.

You can check the current assessment directly. Peterborough posts property record cards through its online tax maps and the Vision Government Solutions database. It also publishes 2025 assessed values by owner, by address and by parcel ID, along with a neighborhood value map. Before you commit to a budget, these steps keep the numbers consistent:

1. Look up the 2025 assessed value on the property record card. Don't rely on the assessment shown in an older listing history.
2. Multiply that 2025 assessment by $22.35 per thousand to estimate the current tax before any exemptions or credits.
3. When you compare towns, use the full-value rates from the state table above, not the local rates.
4. Expect a new rate before the end of the year, since 2026 hasn't been set yet.

Peterborough's assessing page still lists the 2026 tax rate as "Yet to be Determined." ConVal's property tax explainer says state-set rates come out each fall on different dates, and final bills usually go out in November or December. If you close this fall, expect your estimate to be revised fairly soon.

What's known about the December 2026 bill

The 2025 rate had a cushion built in. The town switched to new tax software from Vision Tax, and the conversion miscalculated the captured value in its Tax Increment Finance district. That error made the rate come out lower than it should have. The Select Board then voted to use $271,000 of fund balance to keep it at $22.35. MacStay said the error "did not impact the assessed value of anyone's home."

On the town side, voters approved a FY27 general, water and wastewater operating appropriation of $20,475,996 on May 12, 2026, up from $19,047,184. According to the minutes of the March 3 budget hearing, the main goal of the proposed budget was a 0% increase in taxation. The minutes say the town met that goal, with the total amount to be raised staying at $10,872,981.

The school picture has changed since winter. ConVal's proposed budget projected the district assessment to towns rising 9.08%, to $46,481,797. A big reason was that fund balance used to reduce taxes dropped from $4,243,451 to $750,000. Newer minutes point the other way. At the September 1, 2026 ConVal School Board meeting, a member reported that the overall assessment to the towns is going down this year, though two communities are going up. At the September 24 Selectmen's Advisory Committee meeting, members reviewed a total apportionment of $55,545,298 for the December bill and noted that local education commitments had dropped 3.6%. Hancock and Antrim were named as the towns facing large increases, because of lower state adequacy aid.

Peterborough's own dollar share hadn't been published as of early October. ConVal divides costs half by each town's equalized valuation and half by average daily membership, then subtracts each town's state aid. The full-value numbers matter here too. Equalized value is part of that formula, so the comparison in the table above affects school costs as well as the town rate.

Questions that come up

Did Peterborough taxes go down in 2025?

The rate did. Whether a particular bill went down depends on how much that home's assessment went up. For a home that tracked the town's average change in assessment, the arithmetic above shows a bill close to flat.

Can I appeal a 2025 assessment now?

Peterborough's abatement page says the 2025 application deadline has passed. In general, applications are due March 1 and the town issues decisions by July 1. For questions about a specific property, contact the Assessing Department at 603-924-8000, ext. 132.

Does Francestown leaving ConVal change Peterborough's bill?

Not this year. ConVal estimated Francestown's withdrawal would take effect July 1, 2027, after the current fiscal year. What it means for the remaining towns is still being negotiated.

If you're weighing a Peterborough house against one in Keene, Jaffrey or Swanzey and want the tax numbers lined up on the same basis, North New England Real Estate Group can pull the 2025 assessments and do the full-value math for each property with you. Contact us for a free local market consultation and home valuation.