===PAGE 1=== LUNENBURG BOARD OF ASSESSORS February 5, 2025 RITTER BUILDING, LOWER-LEVEL CONFERENCE ROOM 960 MASSACHUSETTS A VE. Present members: Chair Brian Laffond, Vice Chair Sarah Cammer (Zoom), Clerk John Rabbitt, Principal Assessor Lynda McQuade CALL TO ORDER The meeting opened at 6:30 PM. OPENING COMMENTS - Board John Rabbitt spoke to an individual about the circuit breaker. Lynda McQuade confirms it is past the deadline to file an abatement. - Public There were no comments from the public. STATUS REPORT FROM PRINCIPAL ASSESSOR. - Status of FY2025 Abatement Application, Vision Property Record Cards Update Issue with CAI. Other items as needed. Lynda McQuade states that the abatement period has ended. A total of 34 abatements were received. Lynda McQuade and Denise McCue have inspected 12 properties already. There is an issue with the mapping update as there were 18 parcels that CAI did not receive plans for dating back to 2020 and 2021. The First commitment of the 2025 motor vehicle excise tax bills will be sent out on the 19th. CURRENT BUSINESS - Review and Approve Minutes of January 22, 2025, January 8, 2025, December 10, 2024, November 20, 2024, November 6, 2024, October 16, 2024, October 2, 2024, Executive Sessions of December 10, 2024, January 22, 2025. There was a motion to approve the minutes from December 18th and January 8th by Sarah Cammer, seconded by John Rabbitt. Roll Call V ote. John Rabbitt aye, Sarah Cammer aye, Brian Laffond aye. - Review and Approve Invoices, Expense V ouchers, Billing Errors, etc. There were 2 excise tax bills for $73.47 and $173.10. They were signed. There was a motor vehicle exemption tax for the blind and one for the Hero Act. Each was signed. There was an invoice from Near map that has been suspected because of budget issues. This tool is not used by the Assessor’s Office. ===PAGE 2=== - Assessor Conference at the Senior Center, February 3, 2025. John Rabbit stated there were 19 individuals that signed in at the meeting. Overall, he feels that it went well but he did not receive many feedback sheets. A video was taken of the presentation, but the video is dark, and visuals are difficult to see. There is a meeting tomorrow to convert all charts to pdf. There are intentions to keep the audio track but replace the visuals with the pdf documents. Brian Laffond asked John Rabbitt if he would follow up on the previously discussed conference to be held at the senior center to talk about the Circuit Breaker. Brian Laffond believes the conference should be sponsored by the Council on Aging. - Senior Means Tested Exemption/H.3911 Plan. A design committee for the senior means tested exemption has been created and will have their first meeting in 2 weeks. - Neighborhood/Site Index Review/Plan in response to DOR Directives Starting Point. Lynda McQuade confirms they are currently doing inspections for abatements and reviewing site indexes while inspecting. The Interim Town Manager proposed putting aside some money from the budget in the Capital Plan to get this review kicked off. It will most likely be a multi-year project. Brian Laffond believes that with the office being fully staffed it would be an ideal time to review. Lynda McQuade states Vision will not be looking at the neighborhoods when they start their cyclical review. John Rabbitt suggests statistical sampling to help define the neighborhoods. - Policy and Homeowner Letter for Issues with Deeds. Lynda McQuade states there have been issues with deeds not having an address, Parcel ID, site area, etc. Brian Laffond created a document addressing these issues. Sarah Cammer questions if this document should be sent to the Town Counsel to review. There was a motion to have the proposed document sent to the Town Counsel to review by Sarah Cammer, seconded by John Rabbitt. Roll Call V ote. John Rabbitt aye, Sarah Cammer aye, Brian Laffond aye. - Assessor Website. Lynda McQuade suggests simplifying the website as it can be difficult to navigate. John Rabbitt suggests creating a site index. - Annual Report. Brian Laffond created a drafted town report. The Board approves the document. - Clause 41 and 17 Assets/Income Level Adjustment Exemption Warrant. Brian Laffond provided documents to the Board. Sarah Cammer questions if documents need to go to the Town Counsel. Brian Laffond confirms all warrant articles are reviewed by the Town Counsel. ===PAGE 3=== John Rabbitt questions if there is a chart that can be shared that will show the increase in COLA overtime. Brian Laffond confirms there is no way to predict what COLA will be. He believes he can get a cost estimate for the first year to present at the Annual Town Meeting. POSTPONED TOPICS - BOA Policies. UPCOMING MEETING/EVENTS SCHEDULE Upcoming Meetings: February 19, 2025, March 5, 2025, March 19, 2025, April 2, 2025, April 16, 2025. CLOSING COMMENTS - Public There were no comments from the public. - Board John Rabbitt states the Governor just signed legislation to make the government more efficient and they mention terms of changes in relationship to allow for more zooming. He will bring the article to the next meeting. ADJOURN There was a motion to adjourn the open meeting and enter executive session not to return to open session by Sarah Cammer, seconded by John Rabbit. Roll Call V ote. John Rabbitt aye, Sarah Cammer aye, Brian Laffond aye. The meeting closed at 8:03PM.