The Rochester Board of Selectmen held a public hearing during the November 1 meeting in which it heard from Board of Assessors representative Karen Trudeau on Tax Rate Classification for Fiscal Year 2022.
In accordance with the Board of Assessors’ recommendation that the Board of Selectmen vote against a split tax rate, against three exemptions heard, and in favor of the factor of one, Selectman Woody Hartley motioned that the board vote to tax residential and commercial, industrial, and personal business properties at the same rate for FY22. A unanimous vote carried.
The report includes a total value of real estate and personal property of $1,188,414,033 in Rochester, a 10.18-percent increase over last year. The new tax levy total is $15,143,003. The Excess Levy is $7,383.60.
For FY22, the estimated tax rate was set at $12.74 per $1,000. The average single-family assessment is $471,053, up 3.93-percent from last year, and the average tax bill is $6,001.22. The average condominium assessment is $443,936, up 2.74-percent from last year, and the average tax bill is $5,655.75.
Residential property, valued at $1,030,661,154, makes up 86.726-percent of land in Rochester, which has 13.46-percent in commercial (3.174-percent at $37,714,816), industrial (5.188-percent at $61,812,533) and personal (4.904-percent at $58,225,500) property. Small businesses and Chapter land dominate in town, so the Board of Assessors recommended against a split tax rate. Estimated tax rates were established by using a 150-percent allowable shift.
The three exemptions that the Board of Assessors recommended against adopting included an Open Space Discount, a Residential Exemption, and a Small Commercial Exemption.
There are no “open spaces” in Rochester (undeveloped but not Chapter Land or subject to a Permanent Conservation Restriction). Residential exemptions are popular in towns with many second homes (Rochester has only three). The property owner would receive the Small Commercial Exemption, not the business owner on that property (Rochester has an exemption for Personal Property businesses valued at $1,000 or less).
In her Town Administrator’s Report, Suzanne Szyndlar told the selectmen that the town’s application for a public safety feasibility study grant was not approved. Szyndlar called it “a good try,” and said it was “written very well” with assistance from SRPEDD but “didn’t make the cut.”
Szyndlar said Rochester has money in its Stabilization Fund and is looking into hard quotes to take a different route toward realizing that study.
An October 27 Zoom meeting brought about some frustration from various towns over the drag on establishing municipal electricity aggregation plans, Rochester included. Szyndlar said there has been 600 days without action and no answers on the holdup. “You could hear the frustration in everybody’s voice when they were talking,” said Szyndlar.
A municipal aggregation plan allows residents to get a fixed rate on electricity bills.
Selectman Paul Ciaburri indicated that utilities are on the rise, telling the meeting he received an email from the gas company forecasting a dramatic increase. Ciaburri called it a “big hit,” and added, “Gas rates have been fairly low.”
Hartley suggested a letter be written to the offices of Senator Michael Rodrigues and Representative William Straus. Rodrigues, reported Szyndlar, attended Old Colony Regional Vocational Technical High School’s first legislative breakfast meeting, and said there are more to come as Old Colony looks to expand.
The selectmen voted to sign Police Chief Robert Small’s recommendation of Allison Rego as new staff sergeant. Rego’s selection was the product of multiple reviews from inside and outside the department. According to Small, the final phase of evaluation incorporated performance with interviews conducted by outside agencies, and the review produced three candidates, the highest scorer of which was Rego.
Accompanied by her parents and her boyfriend, Rego’s appointment was cause for celebration.
The selectmen also recognized Kory Lydon as the town’s HIPAA Compliance officer effective November 1. Lydon was recently hired as the town’s treasurer.
The Selectmen voted to add Kathy McHenry to its roster of appointments for the clerical activities to satisfy the requirements of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). McHenry will essentially act in support of Szyndlar as the two hold down the authorized representative, recipient, preparer, and submitter roles for ARPA funding purposes.
Szyndlar said that the town’s recycling program will continue to use the pink bag pickup. The scheduled discussion of the Simple Recycling contract with Sonny Wilkens was pushed to the board’s next agenda.
In concluding her report, Szyndlar publicly thanked the Rochester Highway, Fire, and Police Departments for their work during last week’s storm. “They did an awesome job, they really did,” she said.
Ciaburri said 16 crews worked during the storm, some from out of state, and did “a wonderful job.” Rochester had 99-percent of its residents’ power back by 6:00 pm Saturday. He also noted that the Highway and Fire Departments cleared the roads to make it much easier for the utility trucks to do their work.
Town Counsel Blair Bailey said he hopes by the end of the week to work out an access agreement with the solar leasing company planning to install an array at the Rochester Memorial School parking lot. While the original form gave the company access without prior notice to the school principal (Derek Medeiros), Bailey said that if it’s not an emergency, “They should really work it out with the school.”
The selectmen went into executive session to discuss negotiations with non-union personnel and did not return to open session.
The next meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is scheduled for Monday, November 15, at 6:00 pm.
Rochester Board of Selectmen
By Mick Colageo