Wellesley Annual Town Meeting entered its fifth night on April 14, with moderator Mark Kaplan giving the legislative body a brief pep talk at the start expressing his confidence that it should be able to get its business done over that session and the next on Tuesday.
Veteran & senior tax breaks
The first few articles focused on giving qualifying veterans and seniors more generous tax breaks.
Article 28 focused on allowing Town Meeting to grant qualifying veterans additional property tax relief tied to changes in cost of living. This would be allowable under the state’s new HERO Act, and municipalities adopting it would be partially reimbursed by the state.
Currently, fewer than 50 veterans in town take advantage of existing fixed-amount tax relief offerings by Wellesley, according to Board of Assessors Chair Arthur Garrity. Passing the motion would result initially in an 8 cent increase on property tax bills for owners of single-family homes based on the median assessment. By voice vote, the motion under this article passed unanimously.
So did the motion under Article 29, which would allow the town to double the exemption available to qualifying veterans (these exemptions range from $400 to $1,500, before doubling). This would result in a $2.37 property tax increase for owners of single-family homes based on the median assessment.
Article 30, also sponsored by the Board of Assessors, would allow more seniors to defer their property taxes. Currently, only those with gross receipts of no more than $50K can qualify, but this motion for a special act through the state’s general court would up that to $103K (Wellesley upped the amount from $20K to $50K in 2002, so it’s been a while). Wellesley took a look at what other like communities were doing on this front to come up with a number.
Only a dozen people are in the Wellesley senior tax deferral program, even with a very low interest rate barely above 0, and they’ve deferred about $1M in property taxes. The Board has proposed $103K as a ceiling to entice more people to participate, but with caution that not too many do (this could lead to increased administrative costs and a bigger tax burden on others). Deferred taxes , with interest, must be paid when property is sold.
Before Town Meeting got a chance to vote on this motion, member Michael D’Ortenzio introduced a motion to amend it. He referred back to his grandparents, who lived in town, and told of how many of their friends had to leave because they could no longer afford to do so. So D’Ortenzio proposed tying the deferral cap to inflation, just as Article 29 did for veterans tax relief (currently, the number for gross receipts that would qualify someone for tax deferral would be $109,000). Newton, Sudbury, and Brookline have adopted such language, while other communities have no cap, leaving it up to their Town Meeting and Select Board. Making this change would “future-proof” the tax deferral program, D’Ortenzio said.
The Advisory Committee voted favorable action on this 11-1, though the Board of Assessors and Select Board did not support the change. Several Town Meeting members spoke in support of the motion to amend. Doug Smith said he’s watched seniors being forced out of town because they couldn’t afford the high taxes, and that “we need to find a way to give them an opportunity to stay here, and that’s sort of what this does.”
The motion to amend passed by a vote of 126/55, and the amended motion passed 177/6.
Skip the Stuff
Article 35, known as the Skip the Stuff article (see our earlier coverage ahead of Town Meeting), was formally sponsored by the Climate Action Committee, Board of Health, and Select Board, with others behind it as well. It passed Town Meeting by a 153/16 vote.
Wellesley Sustainability Director Marybeth Martello kicked off her presentation about this proposed town bylaw amendment with all-too-rare Town Meeting props, in this case some packaged single-use utensils. The “stuff” that this article is encouraging people to skip when they get take-out from restaurants.
“Do you happen to have a drawer full of these kinds of utensils? Maybe you have a stash of ketchup packets that you’re reluctant to throw out, or perhaps a drawer full of chopsticks,” she said. “If you’re answering yes, Article 35 is for you.”
The idea behind this article, and a wider movement across the state, country and world, is to stop automatically handing out single-use utensils and condiment packets, and only do so when people request them. The goal is to save restaurants money and save a bunch of waste. Many restaurants, and online delivery firms, already require opt-in for single-use items.
Backers of this article have emphasized they see this as an educational opportunity for restaurants and the public, and aren’t out to punish restaurants. There will be three written warnings before any fines, and those start at $50. The Health Department isn’t looking to do heavy policing on this change, which takes effect Jan. 1.
Town Meeting members did ask quite a few questions. Topics included enforcement resources required (minimal, per the Health Department), whether restaurants will post notices about the rule change (yes, with the town’s help), and whether restaurants, coffee shops, etc. were surveyed (yes, most).
After numerous questions had been answered, Town Meeting member Lisa Sewall, whose family runs four restaurants, said “We’re really overthinking this, and I think maybe the bylaw wasn’t written very specifically… Every restaurant in town will welcome this with open arms. What we’re talking about is… all of the packaging, all the condiments that you don’t need…”
People would have clapped, if they were allowed to… As Moderator Mark Kaplan said at an earlier meeting: “One of the ground rules we have is no applause, no booing, no signs of pleasure or displeasure.”
‘The Swellesley Report’ article
Not officially The Swellesley Report Article, but Article 32 would allow the town to post certain legal notices on digital platforms only, rather than adhering to an outdated state law that requires notices to be published in print newspapers that few now read. Digital platforms could include those ranging from the town website to independent news outlets like ours. To be clear, town bodies can currently post notices in both print and digital publications, but often default to just the print newspaper. The goal here is to allow the town to publish notices wherever it feels the most people will see them. Arlington and Lincoln are two communities that have recently passed such updates to their rules.
When the Planning Department recently posted notices on The Swellesley Report, we were able to share with department leaders statistics on how many people had clicked on the notice headline. It’s anyone’s guess as to how many people see notices in newspapers, other than looking at subscription numbers and assuming some portion of subscribers saw the notices. The town spends about $3,000 a year on print notices.
One Town Meeting member recommended that digital notices be published more than once in case people miss the first post (just as would be the case in print, though once that newspaper is at the RDF, it’s gone; that original digital post is still online). The town actually has been posting notices twice on our site, and we’ve also offered to have a standing tab on our home page for legal notices to make them easier to find.
Another Town Meeting member advocated for posting online and in print, for full transparency.
Notices to abutters on certain projects would still be sent by mail.
The motion passed by a vote of 153/33. The Select Board would still need to get the state’s approval on this change.
Bills have also been circulating to make changes on this topic across the state.
Making the move to an Affordable Housing Trust
Article 34 focused on converting the Wellesley Housing Development Corp., into the Wellesley Affordable Housing Trust (AHT).
The Housing Development Corp., was established in 1998 to preserve and make available affordable housing in town, but in reality, the organization has very limited powers, and generally needs to go through the Select Board to get much done, said Chair Micah O’Neil.
About half the municipalities in the state have established trusts.
Town Meeting members had questions regarding how the formation of this trust could affect the town’s North 40 land and whether the Select Board might be ceding too much authority to a trust with a more limited focus than the Select Board.
One motion passed 140/41/1, and a second (amending the zoning bylaw to reflect the change to a trust) by voice vote.
Where first responders live
Article 31 would allow non-civil service police and fire personnel to live up to 35 miles from town, whereas they currently must be within 15.
The cost of housing around here can make it tough for these employees to live so close, and advances in the use of mutual aid among communities has made it less vital for first responders to live so close.
Town Meeting member Ann-Mara Lanza rose in opposition to the article, describing this motion as a way for Wellesley to push its problem with a lack of affordable housing off on other communities, and that having these people live so far away could make them easier hires for other cities and towns.
This article passed by voice vote.
More:
Leave a Reply