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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-02-08-REPSC-minResidential Exemption Policy Study Committee (Ad hoc) Friday, February 8, 2019 Hudson Room, Cary Memorial Building Attendance Vicki Blier, Sara Bothwell Allen (acting chair), Howard Cloth, Katie Cutler (acting secretary), Thomas Whelan, John Zhao, Joe Pato (Selectmen liaison, attended only the start of the meeting) Missing: Mark Andersen (chair) Resident observer: Robert Pressman Ms. Bothwell Allen called the meeting to order at 8:03AM. Ms. Katie Cutler agreed to serve as acting secretary. Public Comment Period -none Approval of minutes The Committee approved, with minor edits, the minutes from the January 11, 2019. A lengthy conversation related to the final report. The report is partially completed. It was acknowledged that the report has been written with a high level of reporting and analysis. We agreed that we need to wait for the report to be completed by Mr. Anderson. Ms. Sara Bothwell Allen wanted to make sure we have a sense of timeline and that the report represents the group's viewpoints. A comment was made that the report should be written in a way that is readable for a diverse audience. The author is considering using a similar report format that the Appropriation committee uses. There was short conversation about how to include different opinions on the report. We then reviewed one of the longer sections of the report. Discussion of the names of the exemptions and how to references them in the report State Residential Exemption will be referred to as the SRE. Means Testing Residential Exemptions — MTRES Senior Means Testing Residential Exemptions - SMTRES. There is a need for tax relief across town. Can the town reduce housing stress for non seniors? There needs to be a part of the report that states that Lexington may have some financial relief for some but not all residents. Again we need to state that we can not address all the stresses of living in Lexington. It was agreed that the housing stock is expensive so shifting the burden can only assist some residents. Who should we help comments and discussion? What we owe to seniors is different than what we owe to younger more mobile residents. Address relief for senior (tax relief) and new zoning laws (more affordable units) Address the tear down and values of the house around you Address helping seniors without assisting their heirs - Deferral Program The group agreed that if an exemption should pass this new data would be able to give the town more accurate information on who is benefitting from this program Discussion of SRE portion of the report There was an open discussion on SRE portion of the report. Many scenarios were presented to clarify meaning of SRE program. These examples were discussed in length to see the impact of SRE in certain situations. (not taking the exemption, large apartment complexes) Change Recommendations to the report. 1. Place the smaller population effected by the SRE at the end of the section 2.The committee agreed to include the table chart that illustrates impact on assessed property value 3. Section on Apartments and Affordable Housing Use of the term Affordable Housing Inventory is not technically the correct term — please revisit this term 4. Section on Increased Valuations of Lower Homes and Decreased Valuations of Higher Priced Homes The converse is true. This should be changed to in the report to reference the Haughton model. At the end of this meeting we had a discussion on the SRE to gauge our prospective on this program. Overall view — SRE complicated Good intention may not materialize to help seniors Less convincing as mean house value well over $900,.000 for seniors in Lexington Incomplete solutions, adverse unintended consequences Too complex -prefer a standard reduction to all properties Scattershot not the right tool to handle the problem Deferral Program to be more aggressive Complicated but neutral on the SRE — Octogenarians proposal of a set tax would be more beneficial than SRE Next Meetings Next meeting: March 22, 2019 8:OOAM. Meeting adjourned at 9 :45AM. Meeting minutes respectfully submitted by Katie Cutler, acting secretary.