Arlington Town Meeting Votes to End Country Club Tax Break, Ban Rodenticides

ARLINGTON — May 4, 2026 — Arlington Town Meeting votes to strip private country clubs of a 75 percent property tax break. Meeting members voted 190-18 Monday night to authorize filing a home rule petition to exempt the town from Massachusetts General Law Chapter 61B, which has allowed Belmont Country Club and Winchester Country Club to pay a fraction of the standard property tax rate on their combined 59 acres in Arlington. Director of Assessments Dana Mann confirmed Winchester's fiscal year 2025 exemption translated to $24,964 in forgone taxes; Belmont's amounts to roughly $18,000 annually, for a combined estimated recovery of $43,000 per year once the state acts. Petitioner Carmine Granucci, Precinct 21, argued that "a private country club should not be receiving a 75 percent tax discount, particularly while Arlington homeowners are asked to pay more through overrides." Select Board Chair John Hurd introduced the article with a 3-1 board endorsement; member Steve DeCourcy voted no, saying the statute's open-space provisions have value beyond golf courses. Town meeting also voted 211-3 to authorize a home rule petition banning first-generation anticoagulant rodenticides, after Laura Kiesel of Save Arlington Wildlife reported a local gray fox was found with chlorophacinone levels nearly seven times the lethal threshold.