Oak Bluffs will maintain its 15 per cent residential tax exemption, the select board decided at its Nov. 20 meeting.

The vote means that year-round Oak Bluffs residents will continue to pay reduced tax rates on their properties at the previously established rate.

Residential tax exemptions are allowed under state law as a way to shift some of the tax burden away from property owners in a town who call that town their primary residence. The state allows exemptions up to 35 per cent.

In Oak Bluffs, the 15 per cent exemption is the equivalent of a $1,029.56 deduction, according to principal assessor Dawn Barnes.

Oak Bluffs is not the only town on the Island to offer a tax exemption to eligible full-time residents. West Tisbury voted last week to raise its residential tax exemption rate from 5 per cent to 30 per cent. Tisbury’s residential exemption rate is 22 per cent.

According to town administrator Deborah Potter, eligible residents will see a small deduction in their taxes even though the rate is being kept the same because the total town value increased by more than the tax levy this year.

Ms. Barnes said 298 Oak Bluffs parcels are currently approved as eligible for the exemption and 835 are applying.

The board also voted last week to adopt a “residential factor of one,” meaning the town will maintain a flat tax rate for all properties, regardless of whether they are residential or commercial entities.