An escrow account changes how certain ownership bills are paid, not whether the household owes them. Property tax and insurance can remain substantial expenses even with a fixed mortgage interest rate. Keep the principal-and-interest payment separate from the escrow component so changes in the total payment can be traced to the correct cause.
What does the servicer do with escrow money?
The mortgage servicer collects amounts for covered expenses and pays the relevant bills through the escrow account. Taxes and insurance can change over time, so the total monthly payment can change even when the loan's principal-and-interest schedule stays fixed. Review the account analysis and the underlying bills together. The amount collected is not a second property tax; it is a payment mechanism. Confirm which expenses are included and which the owner must pay directly.
How should you compare the local tax figures?
The annual tax illustrations below apply recorded rates to median single-family assessments in selected towns. They are useful context for the scale of a recurring expense but are not the bill or escrow projection for your property. Obtain the actual current bill and identify the fiscal period, exemptions and other charges. Ask the lender or servicer which amount was used in the estimate and whether it reflects the property as it will be owned after the transaction.
What should you do when the payment changes?
Separate the new annual expense from any adjustment relating to an account shortage or surplus. Check the tax and insurance amounts against the source documents and verify that the correct property and periods were used. Ask the servicer to explain any mismatch in writing. Also review charges paid outside escrow, such as association dues or utilities, because they still affect the household budget. A clear reconciliation makes it possible to understand the change without assuming the mortgage interest rate itself moved.
What does the local record show?
These towns provide local context for the decision in this article. The figures describe the published records and survey periods identified below. Compare the same measures across places, then confirm the details of any actual home before using them in a budget or offer.
Local Figures for This Decision
Download CSV, same columns, same definitions
Selected municipalities, shown alphabetically. Definitions below distinguish assessments, administrative benchmarks and survey estimates from current market quotes.
| Town | Single-family Assessment | Annual Tax Illustration | Residential Tax Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Greenfield | $264,600 | $4,963 | $18.64 |
| Longmeadow | $511,700 | $9,966 | $19.32 |
| Springfield | $267,900 | $4,181 | $15.46 |
What These Columns Mean
- Town
- Municipality; follow its record below for the full data and address check.
- Single-family Assessment
- Median assessed value of single-family parcels. This is a tax-roll statistic, not an asking price, appraisal or median sale price. Assessment years are identified in the sources.
- Annual Tax Illustration
- The published residential rate applied to the town's median single-family assessment, including the recorded community preservation surcharge and its general first-value exemption where adopted. Individual exemptions, special assessments and a future reassessment can change an actual bill.
- Residential Tax Rate
- Dollars per $1,000 of taxable assessed value. The fiscal year is identified below. The rate alone does not include a community preservation surcharge or determine a particular property's bill.
Cite: RE413. “Local Figures for This Decision.” Updated September 19, 2026. https://www.re413.com/news/property-tax-escrow-massachusetts/, underlying sources at https://www.re413.com/sources/.
Greenfield's town record. Single-family assessment: $264,600. Annual tax illustration: $4,963. Residential tax rate: $18.64.
Longmeadow's town record. Single-family assessment: $511,700. Annual tax illustration: $9,966. Residential tax rate: $19.32.
Springfield's town record. Single-family assessment: $267,900. Annual tax illustration: $4,181. Residential tax rate: $15.46.
What should you check next?
- Separate principal and interest from escrow and identify the expenses the account pays.
- Compare the account's tax and insurance assumptions with actual bills for the correct property and period.
- Ask for an explanation of adjustments and keep expenses paid directly outside escrow in the overall housing budget.
Keep the address, document date and source alongside each answer. If records disagree, identify which period and property each describes before treating the difference as a change. A missing result leaves a question open; it does not establish that a property has no problem or no cost.
Where can you continue the comparison?
Browse all housing guides by subject.
Open the linked town records for the wider context, including sources and dates. Use the property-specific records to narrow a decision, and keep current quotes separate from the historical figures used to explain it here.
Which official guidance supports this article?
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau: escrow accounts. Guidance checked 2026-09-05; confirm current requirements for your transaction.
Sources
- MassGIS and municipal assessors. single-family assessment, annual tax illustration. Figures through Greenfield: FY2025; Longmeadow: FY2026; Springfield: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-21.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, Division of Local Services. annual tax illustration, residential tax rate. Figures through Greenfield: FY2026; Longmeadow: FY2026; Springfield: FY2026. Checked 2026-08-05.
- Massachusetts Department of Revenue, community preservation records. annual tax illustration. Checked 2026-08-05.
"Figures through" is the period the publisher's data describes; "checked" is only when we last asked. The full sourcing: sources and method.