- Live reporting - closing
- Live reporting - legislation for action
- Live reporting - Tax hearing
- Live reporting - Citizens comments
- Live reporting - Town Council
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Town Council - 11/30/11
The collection of posts that were reported live during the Town Council meeting on Weds, Nov 30 can be found here
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Live reporting - closing
K. TOWN ADMINISTRATOR’S REPORT
commenting on the citizens comments, it was not $350,000 spent, it was $100,000
it was not a court proceeding, it was an arbitration issue and not a public record
the legal bills are a public record and were part of the school committees warrant
L. OLD BUSINESS
none
M. NEW BUSINESS
none
N. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Powderly - Councilors breakfast at Senior Center
I am meeting with Karen tomorrow, we are trying to figure out the best use of that committee, once we resolved the tax abatements, we did not meet much. I appreciate your input, it hasn't been officially disbanded, it is looking for new direction
Pfeffer -
Kennedy School Playground committee most active I have seen, they are around
Can we get an updated listing of the councilors?
Nutting - it will be in the package for next meeting
Kelly -
thanks to the Concerts ont he Common and the DPW for the work on the holiday decorations
Santa came on Sunday and it was a good time
O. EXECUTIVE SESSION – Negotiations, Litigation, Real Property, as May Be Required
motion approved, via roll call 8-0
Live reporting - legislation for action
J. LEGISLATION FOR ACTION
1. Resolution 11-65:Classification Tax Allocation– Residential Factor
motion to approve - passed 8-0
2. Resolution 11-66:Classification Tax Allocation – Open Space Exemption
motion to approve - passed 8-0
3. Resolution 11-67:Classification Tax Allocation – Small Businesses Exemption
motion to approve - passed 8-0
4. Resolution 11-68: Classification Tax Allocation – Residential Property Exemption
motion to approve - passed 8-0
Live reporting - Tax hearing
E. APPOINTMENTS
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
2 minute break to get to 7:10 for the scheduled hearing start
F. HEARINGS - Annual Tax Classification Hearing – 7:10 PM
Ken Norman, Chair Board of Assessors
Kevin Doyle, Director of Assessors
Chris Feeley, Vincent DeBaggis - board members
Jeff Nutting, what you see tonight in 15 minutes is the result of over 2,000 hours of work
the State has already provided a preliminary assessment in approval of the process
Thanks for all the work done
Kevin Doyle -
providing an overview of the package
page 2 a summary of the status change in valuations
Pages 6 - 10 a listing of the commercial and industrial properties
page 11 - shows the calculation for the residential vs commercial industrial class
Page 12 - shows the calculation to get to the tax base valuation - new growth valuation
personal property - one time growth, not expected to repeat
a large account that was unanticipated
What is personal property?
personal property- business assets that are taxable locally (furnishings, computers, etc.)
Page 14 - calculates the levy limit
Page 21-22 what if scenarios? answers the questions on shifts if a split tax rate was chosen
Page 23 - from the DOR website
Page 24 - shows the tax rate against an "average" value
Page 25 - shows the tax rate against the "median" value
Page 26 - the levy as applied against the different classes and percent change from last year
page 27 - a summary page showing the major classes over the years, depicting changes year to year
Roy - question on Franklin Village getting a mortgage of $44M with an assessed value of $46M?
Doyle - the deed sometimes provides detail and the mortgage can sometimes provides more detail. This is some speculation. What we did do, we engaged a consultant to assist in the valuation, gathered income and expense information for review by us and by the DOR to confirm if we were using appropriate schedules
Norman - it is a national company and they could be doing something with the property and taxes that we don't know
Nutting - can you explain the data used?
Doyle - We are using last year's data as this year is not yet complete.
Jones -
Doyle - most property is owner occupied, communities that typically go with the residential exemption are larger cities or more seasonal resort type areas where the buildings are not generally owner occupied. What you have to understand, is that the residential exemption would be taken from the other residences. With a high level of owner occupied, a residential exemption would provide little offset practically
Norman - Your other question is basically with prop 2.5%
Doyle - the 2.5% is there pretty much automatically, my main goal day to day is to be fair and equitable. The adjustments need to be made in the same way.
Bissanti - congratulations on a good package, what do you see?
Doyle - We have looked ahead but those are part of the test group. The first six months of 2011 were similar to the market closing at the end of 2010. We don't predict future value
Feeley - our job is as historians, we are not here to predict the future
Powderly - we did not say what the new tax rate is yet, it would go from 12.79 to 13.73. Where do vacancies stand? mostly in the Commercial industrial piece
Doyle - we do have an allowance for vacancy and collection loss, historically if you look out over a 10 year period, some properties have never been vacant and others are frequently so.
Powderly - it is obviously a lag
Doyle - we receive information confidentially so we can't share some specifics with others
Jones - how do you compare Franklin to surrounding towns?
Doyle - probably want to turn to the realtors for that, DOR would have that.
Nutting - remind folks of the way the system works in the commonwealth, you need to compare the total year to total year, the first two bills are estimates
Powderly - with a single rate versus a split tax rate, if we were to go with a split rate, to take one dollar from the residents would raise the commercial rate by $4.
Hearing closed
G. LICENSE TRANSACTIONS
2 minute break to get to 7:10 for the scheduled hearing start
F. HEARINGS - Annual Tax Classification Hearing – 7:10 PM
Ken Norman, Chair Board of Assessors
Kevin Doyle, Director of Assessors
Chris Feeley, Vincent DeBaggis - board members
Jeff Nutting, what you see tonight in 15 minutes is the result of over 2,000 hours of work
the State has already provided a preliminary assessment in approval of the process
Thanks for all the work done
Kevin Doyle -
providing an overview of the package
page 2 a summary of the status change in valuations
Pages 6 - 10 a listing of the commercial and industrial properties
page 11 - shows the calculation for the residential vs commercial industrial class
Page 12 - shows the calculation to get to the tax base valuation - new growth valuation
personal property - one time growth, not expected to repeat
a large account that was unanticipated
What is personal property?
personal property- business assets that are taxable locally (furnishings, computers, etc.)
Page 14 - calculates the levy limit
Page 21-22 what if scenarios? answers the questions on shifts if a split tax rate was chosen
Page 23 - from the DOR website
Page 24 - shows the tax rate against an "average" value
Page 25 - shows the tax rate against the "median" value
Page 26 - the levy as applied against the different classes and percent change from last year
page 27 - a summary page showing the major classes over the years, depicting changes year to year
Roy - question on Franklin Village getting a mortgage of $44M with an assessed value of $46M?
Doyle - the deed sometimes provides detail and the mortgage can sometimes provides more detail. This is some speculation. What we did do, we engaged a consultant to assist in the valuation, gathered income and expense information for review by us and by the DOR to confirm if we were using appropriate schedules
Norman - it is a national company and they could be doing something with the property and taxes that we don't know
Nutting - can you explain the data used?
Doyle - We are using last year's data as this year is not yet complete.
Jones -
Doyle - most property is owner occupied, communities that typically go with the residential exemption are larger cities or more seasonal resort type areas where the buildings are not generally owner occupied. What you have to understand, is that the residential exemption would be taken from the other residences. With a high level of owner occupied, a residential exemption would provide little offset practically
Norman - Your other question is basically with prop 2.5%
Doyle - the 2.5% is there pretty much automatically, my main goal day to day is to be fair and equitable. The adjustments need to be made in the same way.
Bissanti - congratulations on a good package, what do you see?
Doyle - We have looked ahead but those are part of the test group. The first six months of 2011 were similar to the market closing at the end of 2010. We don't predict future value
Feeley - our job is as historians, we are not here to predict the future
Powderly - we did not say what the new tax rate is yet, it would go from 12.79 to 13.73. Where do vacancies stand? mostly in the Commercial industrial piece
Doyle - we do have an allowance for vacancy and collection loss, historically if you look out over a 10 year period, some properties have never been vacant and others are frequently so.
Powderly - it is obviously a lag
Doyle - we receive information confidentially so we can't share some specifics with others
Jones - how do you compare Franklin to surrounding towns?
Doyle - probably want to turn to the realtors for that, DOR would have that.
Nutting - remind folks of the way the system works in the commonwealth, you need to compare the total year to total year, the first two bills are estimates
Powderly - with a single rate versus a split tax rate, if we were to go with a split rate, to take one dollar from the residents would raise the commercial rate by $4.
Hearing closed
Live reporting - Citizens comments
D. CITIZEN COMMENTS
Ken Norman
1 - recommending the continuation of a committee to help coordinate the efforts for the seniors
2 - recommendation on better visibility to law suits pending with the town particularly in getting exposure to the expense associated with such
Live reporting - Town Council
Present: Dellorco, Kelly, Powderly, Vallee, Pfeffer, Jones, Bisanti, Roy
Absent: Mercer
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- This meeting is being recorded by Verizon, Comcast, and Franklin Matters.
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
Haley Goulet - for leading the dog park effort
Budget workshop - Jan 11
Workshop on Dec 14th for Town Council, public invited
Absent: Mercer
A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
B. ANNOUNCEMENTS
- This meeting is being recorded by Verizon, Comcast, and Franklin Matters.
C. PROCLAMATIONS/RECOGNITIONS
Haley Goulet - for leading the dog park effort
Budget workshop - Jan 11
Workshop on Dec 14th for Town Council, public invited
Franklin Area Blogs
One of the features here at Franklin Matters is to provide links to other blogs in the Franklin area. The listing can be found in far right column. Scroll down below my Flickr photos of Franklin, the logos for the United Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Franklin Downtown Partnership to find the listing of Franklin Area Blogs.
The listing is updated every time each site posts on their site. In this way, you can always see the most current item they have shared. You can click through to read that item and then linger on their site to explore what else they have shared.
There are three updates to make you aware of today:
Two on the Holiday Stroll from 02038 and Berry Ins:
Holiday Stroll this Thursday in Franklin, MA
The listing is updated every time each site posts on their site. In this way, you can always see the most current item they have shared. You can click through to read that item and then linger on their site to explore what else they have shared.
There are three updates to make you aware of today:
Two on the Holiday Stroll from 02038 and Berry Ins:
Holiday Stroll this Thursday in Franklin, MA
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