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Date: 12/7/2022
LONGMEADOW – Consultant Ken Rogers, who has been filling in while the town is without a principal assessor, presented the tax classification options to the Select Board on Dec. 5. Rogers broke down the calculations that are used to determine a tax rate.
The town’s fiscal year 2022 (FY22) tax levy was $52.90 million. Adding the 2.5 percent of that number, which is allowed under the law, as well as the $476,064 in growth that the town saw since last year and the $5.97 million debt exclusion due largely to the middle school feasibility study, the new maximum tax levy is $60.67 million. Because the town plans to use 2.44 percent of the maximum 2.5 percent allowed by law, the actual tax levy for FY23 is $60.25 million, with $416,511 in excess tax capacity.
Property tax rates are determined using another formula. The tax levy, divided by the taxable property valuation for the entire town – $2.62 billion – then, multiplied by 1,000. This puts the FY23 tax rate at $22.92 per $1,000 of property value, 6.98 percent lower than the current year’s tax rate.
The Select Board then decided whether residential properties should pay the same tax rate as commercial, industrial and personal (CIP) property owners, or if CIP properties should shoulder more of the tax burden. The tax burden could be shifted by up to 50 percent. This maximum shift would result in residential property owners paying $335 less over the year and the owners of CIP property, which make up 6.29 percent of properties in town, paying $19,142 more.
Vice Chair Mark Gold noted that, for the 12th year running, he felt commercial properties were undervalued. Over the past three years, he said residential properties had increased in value by 16.5 percent which commercial properties had only increased by 1.35 percent. When Rogers said rental costs and vacancy rates were used to calculate commercial property value, Gold asked how the rental data was sourced. It is voluntary reporting from the commercial business owners, Rogers said.
“I think the data we’re using is skewed,” Gold said. He added that because commercial properties do not change hands in Longmeadow, there is no sales data to give a more realistic view of their value. He said he wanted to use a split rate to increase the amount paid by commercial property owners.
Selectman Thomas Lachiusa asked if Longmeadow can compare the commercial property values in surrounding towns, and Rogers told him it was possible, but would not help for this year’s tax classification setting.
Chair Joshua Levine weighed in, saying “The shift is large with such a small benefit.” He expressed concern that small businesses would be harmed, but Gold said most of the businesses in town are large chains.
The board voted 3-1 to maintain a single tax rate, with Gold dissenting.
Trash pickup
The Select Board met with Waste Management (WM) Public Sector Solutions Representative Roy Boyer to discuss inconsistent trash pickup over the past couple of months. Gold said Waste Management is a multibillion-dollar company and the town expects routes to be picked up on time.
“We didn’t hire two guys and a truck,” Gold told Boyer. Gold asked where the issue lay.
Boyer explained a driver hired for one of the Longmeadow routes had not been performing at the rate the company expected. They have since hired a driver to replace that person, but he said they are currently training. He expects the new driver to be trained by the end of the month.
There has been a national driver shortage, Boyer reminded the board. A position that would have seen 20 candidates in the past will now attract only a couple, he said, adding that Waste Management’s stringent drug screening and background check process means even fewer candidates are considered appropriate hires.
On the equipment side, Boyer said the trucks that Waste Management runs in Longmeadow are from 2016, and while they are made to last about 10 years, the wear and tear requires routine repair. Boyer said there have been delays in receiving parts for the equipment, which translates to route disruptions.
Boyer also noted that when the town changed the destination for solid waste from Community Eco Power (CEP), which went bankrupt last year, to McNamara Waste, it changed the way routes were run. He said because McNamara closes at 3:30 p.m., instead of 5 p.m. like CEP, the drivers must leave their route in the middle of the day to drop off waste and return to the route afterward.
He offered to update the town by 3:30 p.m. on which routes were completed and which were interrupted and will be finished first thing the next morning. Simmons said the town can send out a reverse 911 call to affected neighborhoods to let residents know.
Selectman Dan Zwirko asked if the drivers can start earlier, but Boyer told him residents would have to put their trash out before 7 a.m. Zwirko also asked about broken glass and debris left on streets after the trucks have come through. Boyer asked that Waste Management is made aware anytime that happens and said a street sweeper will be dispatched to clean it up.
LCTV
Longmeadow Cable Television President Steven Wolman met with the board to discuss an ongoing contract dispute. Wolman said the sticking point for LCTV was a clause in the contract which states that if the if the town and LCTV cannot come to an agreement on a material issue within the contract after three attempts, LCTV will be in breach of the contract
“Why are we automatically in breach? Why not you?” Wolman asked.
From Levine’s point of view, LCTV will not sign the contract because of a provision within the contract that states, “In the event that the [town] terminates this agreement with LCTV,” if found to be in breach of the contract, “above all assets and equipment shall become property of the town and/or transferred to such successor organization.” Levine said the cable access channel should not be allowed to move its operation to another town.
Wolman was adamant that LCTV has no plans to take such an action, but he also presented written materials and made a case that the contract’s language precludes the town from doing business with any other cable access provider.
After several arguments back and forth, in which Wolman’s voice was raised and Levine stated he was “trying not to get heated, Gold interjected that the conversation was turning into a negotiation. As negotiations must be done in executive session, the topic was dropped for the time being.
EFSB tour
The state Energy Facility Siting Board (ESFB) will be touring the possible routes for the Eversource Western Massachusetts Reliability Project, which would locate a metering station in town and run a pipeline along one of four proposed routes.
Four people are allowed to represent Longmeadow’s interests on this bus tour. Simmons and Fire Chief Michael Dearborn are two of them. Conservation Commission member Kimberly Barden asked to be included out of concern for wetlands near the potential routes, but Levine stated the other two people should be elected officials of the town, including at least one Select Board member. Lachiusa suggested instead that a member of the Longmeadow Pipeline Awareness Group should be included because of the outreach they have done on this issue. Gold disagreed and suggested asking a member of the Planning Board to participate, which Simmons said she would do.
On a related note, a virtual public hearing regarding Eversource’s project will be conducted by the EFSB on Dec. 14, at 6 p.m.