Home prices in the region have been dropping since 2008, as the economy continues to struggle.
It’s difficult maintaining services without getting more money, Longo said. But residents are stressed and strained already, making it hard to ask for more.
Some of the stress for homeowners stems from watching the value of their residential nest eggs erode.
Average assessed values fell in 45 of 48 local communities between fiscal 2010 and 2011, according to data from the state Department of Revenue released in November.
Values fell 5 percent or more in 16 towns, led by Halifax, where the average single-family home is assessed for about $286,000, down nearly 11 percent from a year earlier. Assessed values for fiscal 2011 are based on sales as of January 2010.
At the same time, property taxes continue to climb, with the median hike in local communities up about 3 percent. Locally, the average tax bill in 2011 ranged from $2,333 in Wareham to $9,898 in Cohasset.
The 76-page report from the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, released earlier this month, lays out a difficult financial future for the state’s 351 cities and towns.
State aid to communities has fallen three years in a row, property tax growth had the smallest one-year increase in decades, and town budgets barely increased over the past two years, said the report.
Adding to the problem, money spent on employees continued to climb while unaddressed long-term costs for pensions and retiree health care loom like dark clouds on the horizon.
“Cities and towns are facing a permanent fiscal squeeze, in which costs are rising faster than revenues,’’ said Michael Widmer, president of the foundation.
The problem could last a decade or longer, he said. “It is a new fiscal reality.’’
Town budgets have barely increased over the past two years, even even as hard-hit communities tap into new tax streams, such as higher restaurant taxes.
Some communities may be in better shape, said Widmer, especially if they have a strong commercial base, wealthy residents willing to pass overrides, and are managed well.
But it is a difficult outlook overall, he said.
