===PAGE 1=== TOWN OF LUNENBURG BOARD OF ASSESSORS P .O. BOX 135 LUNENBURG, MA 01462 September 27, 2023 Present Members: Vice Chair Sarah Cammer, Chair Brian Laffond, Clerk John Rabbitt, Interim Principal Assessor Rena Swezey. 1. Call to order The meeting opened at 6:30 PM. 2. Board Comment  Two additional members are welcomed on the board: Sarah Cammer and Brian Laffond. Brian Laffond has been on multiple local boards and committees for about 20 years. Sarah Cammer has previously been on local town boards. Public Comment  Michael Ray Jeffreys – 1170 Massachusetts Ave.- briefly discussed the recent excise tax issue. Michael Ray Jeffreys states the first steps include prioritizing and communication. He believes the board should look at taxes as assessed from the previous year and compare them to what’s being suggested to find any potential problems. Regarding communication, Michael Ray Jeffreys states that the Select Board had to step up and answer the public’s concerns when this is the role of the Board of Assessors. Michael Ray Jeffreys believes the number 1 priority is to do the job everyone was elected or appointed for. Additionally, there must be support for staff to better support the community.  Tom Alonzo- 284 Lancaster Ave. – states that the task in front of you is significant. Urges members to make a list of everything that needs to be addressed and then prioritize those lists. Tom Alonzo expressed emphasis that everyone needs to as a unit. Tom Alonzo believes the lack of response back in January made the community more anxious and angrier that they weren't getting answers. 3. New Business  Reorganization of the Board to elect a Chair, Vice-chair, and Clerk There is a brief discussion regarding the roles of each member, and everyone is in general agreement. The role of the Chair is to organize the group and facilitate discussions to identify the board’s goals. The Vice-Chair helps run the meetings if the Chair is not available, and the Clerk is responsible for administrative tasks. Sarah Cammer states that she is unable to be Chair currently because of prior obligations and her full-time job. Brian Laffond is willing to be the Chair and has had prior experience being the Chair of the Financial Committee for 4-5 years. John Rabbitt expresses that he doesn’t want to be the Chair or Vice Chair. John Rabbitt also recommends a new chair be elected with a rotation on a yearly basis. Sarah Cammer nominated Brian Laffond for Chair, seconded by John Rabbitt. All in favor. ===PAGE 2=== John Rabbitt nominated Sarah Cammer for Vice Chair, seconded by Brian Laffond. All in favor. John Rabbitt nominated himself for Clerk. All in favor.  Discuss Regular Meeting Schedule and Next Meeting Dates Based on everyone's schedule there is a discussion to move the meetings to Monday nights at 6:45 PM. Someone from the board will reach out to Sheila to see if she is able to make it to 1 meeting a month. Brian Laffond will investigate how to officially change the meetings to Monday nights and what the process is. Rena Swezey believes a monthly meeting is appropriate until it starts to get to the busier months. Sarah suggests they have bi-weekly meetings.  Status Report from Interim Principal Assessor Rena Swezey provides a general update and shares that she has been very busy. There are between 15 and 20 new homes that need to be inspected, sketched, and entered into the system. Rena Swezey states the kickoff meeting with Vision took place the prior day. There was a discussion about starting to review all sales. Once preliminary values and certifications are received, they will be put onto the website. These values and certifications are usually due in October and classification hearings are in November/December. There was a discussion about making impact notes which are required by the DOR during re-eval. This would then be provided on the webpage and hard copies will be made available to the public at a location such as the library. Project updates: o All the chapter land and senior exemptions are returned. A meeting for both topics will have to take place at an upcoming time. o Numbers for sales are being looked at by Nate Cramer and Vision. o Personal property assessment has been completed for the year. o The mapping company, CAI, is updating property cards. Land maps are getting updated and are due by January 1st. If a resident needs a copy of their record card, call the town and one can be mailed or can be picked up. The website info isn’t as up-to-date. o All sales verification letters have been sent to anybody who just bought a house, and some have already been received back. Rena’s goal for this month is to collect data manuals and figure out how to gain access to documents that were on CJ's computer. John Rabbitt previously asked CJ about post-sales inspection, and he stated they haven’t had time to work on them. Sarah Cammer suggests a book be created of granted abatements for reference. There were also questions about whether the abatement will or has been added to the property record cards. Motor vehicle abatements were signed. ===PAGE 3===  Discuss Community Meeting to Update the Public on Q3 & Q4 Tax Bills 3rd quarter estimated bills will be sent. The re-eval actual bills won’t be received until February 1st. The deadline for filing an abatement is March 1st. The board wants to be as transparent as possible regarding information to the public. The main goal is to work on communication with the public. The plan is to Invite the town manager to an upcoming meeting to discuss how to communicate with and address the public.  Future Agenda Topics - John Rabbitt suggests creating a policies manual that includes land grading policy and a key to better understanding factors. - Agenda policy review will be added as a regular topic on the agenda. - Sarah Cammer suggests creating an organization of terms that are being used to assess. The 3 terms are good, bad, and poor. - Create procedures and charts for info that is being sent out and when deadlines are due. 4. Comments Board Comments  The board agrees that there needs to be communication with the office. If documents or letters are being sent out the board needs to be made aware and have documents date stamped  John Rabbitt suggests whoever makes the meeting agenda do a little research and bring essential materials to provide a basis for discussion.  Sarah Cammer is going to review the assessment and the DOR database to familiarize.  Rena Swezey will look at other communities for ideas/references regarding the webpage as the new webpage is being launched soon. Public Comment Nate Cramer will work with the IT department to save the valuations and billing values. 5. Upcoming Meeting Schedule The next meeting is scheduled for October 11th at 6:45 PM. 6. Adjournment Motion to adjourn by Sarah Cammer, seconded by John Rabbitt. The meeting closed at 9:00 PM.