Franklin Matters: Franklin Election 2019: What does the Board of Assessors do?

Thursday, August 8, 2019

Franklin Election 2019: What does the Board of Assessors do?

While the Town Council votes to set the tax rate annually, the calculations on what the tax rate should be are based upon the valuations of all the commercial, industrial, residential, and personal property that Franklin has record of. These calculations are performed by the Assessors under the oversight of the elected Board of Assessors.

The state has changed the requirement for a property revaluation from every three years to every five years.

There are three members of the Board. Two positions are up for election this year. All three positions are four year terms of office and staggered to avoid a complete replacement and loss of institutional knowledge.

From the Town of Franklin Board of Assessors page
http://www.franklinma.gov/board-assessors

Mission
Establish and maintain valuations for all real and personal property within the community for purposes of generating tax revenues.

Services and Programs
Valuation, classification and assessment of all real and personal property for tax purposes. Conduct research of real estate market (including sales and ratio studies); prepare sales and other reports for state review and certification of values. Prepares and certifies abutters lists. Processes abatements, liens, and apportionment. Maintains assessors' maps, plans, property transfer records, and valuation data. Processes all real and personal property abatements and exemptions. Processes and abates motor vehicle excise. Prepares data for state approval of tax rate.

Inquiries regarding the valuation of residential property, industrial and commercial valuations, or questions about personal property valuations should be directed to Kevin W. Doyle, Peter Mooney or David Ruberti.

Questions regarding abatement and exemption applications, abutters lists, motor vehicle excise, ownership of real and personal property and general assessment data should be directed to the clerical support staff.