HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-01-03-TDES-min Draft
Selectmen's Tax Deferral and Exemption Study Committee
Meeting Minutes
January 3, 2018
A meeting of the Tax Deferral and Exemption Study Committee was called to order at 7:05 PM
on January 3, 2018, in the Reed Room at the Lexington Town Office Building.
Members present: Vicki Blier, Pat Costello, Dick Bair, Pam Joshi,
Others present: Appropriation Committee liaison John Bartenstein, Assistant Town Manager for
Finance Carolyn Kosnoff, Board of Selectman liaison Michelle Ciccolo, and Selectman Joe Pato.
The purposes of the meeting:
1. Review and approve minutes from November 28, 2017 meeting.
2. Discuss Sudbury-type Means Tested Senior Tax Exemption (SMTE)legislation in
preparation for advising the Selectmen at their January 8 meeting.
3. Continue discussion of Clauses 5C �/z and 41C �/z in anticipation of making a
recommendation to the Selectmen before the Annual Town Meeting.
Minutes of the November 28 meeting were reviewed and approved for posting.
Discussion of Sudbury-type SMTE legislation:
Vicki Blier reported on her discussions with Assessors in Sudbury, Concord and Wayland about
their experience with similar SMTE programs. Sudbury and Concord each utilize property
values specific to their Town rather than the Circuit Breaker limit when calculating SMTE
eligibility. Assessors in Sudbury and Concord noted implementation issues with their SMTE
program, both citing the program as being burdensome on Assessor's office staff Sudbury noted
lack of implementation guidance from the Department of Revenue and difficulty developing a
standard policy for denying the exemption due to "excessive assets" as allowed in their special
legislation. Lexington's Rob Lent added that "counter and telephone inquiries" about a new
SMTE program would be extra burden on Assessor staff
After discussion, the Committee recommended to propose to Selectmen that the Committee
could prepare, with legal help, draft legislation for a SMTE program customized to Lexington
which would include the positive features in the existing SMTE programs and address the known
shortcomings. Timeline for development of draft SMTE legislation would be spring 2018 after
conclusion of annual Town Meeting. The goal would be to prepare the draft and share it with
the Selectmen's Ad Hoc Residential Exemption Committee before that team reports in June,
2018.
Discussion of Clauses 5C �/z and 41C 1/2:
The Committee reviewed utilization data of Clause 5C �/z in nearby Towns and agreed to
recommend to the Board of Selectmen that Lexington consider utilizing this clause to increase all
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property tax exemptions by up to 100%. A 30% increase in exemption values could add new
cost to the Town of$22,380. Lexington has not increased exemption values in recent years.
The Committee decided not to recommend adoption of Clause 41 C 1/2 since it would be
impossible to predict the potential costs to the Town which could be quite high, noting that only
one other city or town has adopted the measure.
The meeting adjourned at 9:10 PM.
Next Meeting: TBD
Respectfully submitted,
Dick Bair
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