Health Dept: Risk Low For Coronavirus In Belmont; No Cases In Town

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Photo: Wesley Chinn, director of Belmont Health Department, speaking before the Select Board.

Despite the first cases of Massachusetts residents contracting the novel coronavirus in the past two days, the chance of Belmont residents coming down with the remains quite low according to the town’s health officials.

“[W]e are pleased to report that as of 3 p.m. this afternoon [Monday], the risk for coronavirus remains low in Massachusetts,” said Wesley Chin, the director of the Belmont Health Department, who updated the came before the Select Board on Monday, March 2.

As of Monday, “[t]here are no cases in Belmont,” said Belmont Assistant Fire Chief Wayne Haley.

“Were monitoring continuously and just try to calm the nerves of people that just don’t know what to believe what they see on the news,” he noted.

Chin said as “this is a rapidly evolving situation,” his department met Monday with the town’s Emergency Management team consisting of representatives of the Fire and Police departments, town administration and representative the schools.

Haley, who is the town’s Risk Management director, said he and other town health officials have had two hour-long phone calls with the state’s Department of Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control to discuss how towns and departments will address all situations involving the coronavirus.

“From the fire department, we are prepared to respond for any emergency calls,” said Haley.

“We have specialized kits to deal with [the coronavirus], if need be. Dispatchers have been trained to screen all calls to try to get as much information as possible or possible exposure,” said Haley.

In addition, venerable populations to the coronavirus – the elderly and residents with prior health conditions – which include residents at the assisted living complex Belmont Manor and McLean Hospital will be contacted by the Health Department, said Chin.

Both Haley and Chin said the public is best served by following the CDC’s advice on general prevention methods which include:

  • Frequent washing of your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap.
  • Avoid touching your nose and mouth.
  • Stay at home if you have flu-like symptoms and contact your physician. “That is the best way to stop the virus,” said Chin.

According to Belmont’s Public Nurse David Neylon, symptoms include fever, shortness of breath and coughing.

Belmont Votes Today: Presidential Primary 2020; Polls Open at 7 AM, Schools Closed

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Photo: Get to the polls, today.

Belmont votes today, Tuesday, March 3 in the 2020 Massachusetts Presidential Primary.

POLLS ARE OPEN FROM 7 A.M. TO 8 P.M.

BELMONT PUBLIC SCHOOLS ARE CLOSED.

Voters are encouraged to check their voter registration status and voting precinct before they go to vote by visiting the Town Clerk’s web page.

Voters who have not returned a census in 2019 or 2020 are classified as “inactive” voters, a status that requires the voter to present identification to return to the active voting rolls.  Think about carrying your ID when you go to vote to make the process seamlessly.

BELMONT VOTING LOCATIONS

  • Precinct One: Belmont Public Library, Assembly Room, 336 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct Two: Belmont Town Hall, Selectmen’s Room, 455 Concord Ave.
  • Precinct Three: Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct Four: Daniel Butler School Gym, 90 White St.
  • Precinct Five: Beech Street Center, 266 Beech St.
  • Precinct Six: Belmont Fire Headquarters, 299 Trapelo Rd.
  • Precinct Seven: Burbank School Gym, 266 School St.
  • Precinct Eight: Winn Brook School Gym, 97 Waterhouse Rd., Enter From Cross Street.

Don’t know your voting precinct?  Visit the Town Clerk’s website for a list of Belmont precinct assignments by street:

  1. Select Town Departments,
  2. Select Town Clerk,
  3. then select Elections: Information for Residents and scroll down the page.

Or go directly here.

WHO CAN VOTE, AND FOR WHOM

Your enrollment as a voter will determine which party ballot you will receive at the polls.

There are four political parties in Massachusetts. If you are enrolled in one of these four political parties when you go to the polls, you can only vote for that particular party:

  • D – Democratic Party
  • R – Republican Party
  • J – Green-Rainbow  Party
  • L – Libertarian Party

Only voters who are not affiliated with a political party, called Unenrolled (U – commonly known as No Party or “Independent”) and voters in Political Designations may choose any one of the four party ballots when voting in Primary Elections.

ARRIVE EARLY, CONSIDER TRAFFIC AND LIMITED PARKING

Belmont Police will designate voter parking at each of the polling locations however with a very busy election, parking close to the voting sites is often a challenge. Plan ahead: consider walking, carpooling with a friend or voting “off peak” during the middle of the day.  Only voters who arrive at the precinct and are in line for the Voter Check-In before the close of polls at 8 p.m. can be permitted to vote; those who come too late will miss out.

If you would like further clarification of your party, voting  status, voting precinct or have any other questions related to the upcoming election, please call the Belmont Town Clerk’s Office at 617-993-2600 or email: townclerk@belmont-ma.gov

Five Days Of Early Voting For Presidential Primary Starts Monday, Feb. 24

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Photo: One week of early voting in Belmont.

Belmont voters are now able to cast ballots early for the presidential primary election ahead of Super Tuesday, March 3.

With voter turnout expected to be high due to the large number of candidates seeking to challenge President Trump in the general election in November, Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin permitted five days of early voting.

Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman announced early voting will take place on the following dates and times: 

  • Monday, Feb. 24        8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Feb. 25        8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 
  • Wednesday, Feb. 26  8 a.m. to 4 p.m. 
  • Thursday, Feb. 27     8 a.m. to 7 p.m. 
  • Friday, Feb. 28          8 a.m. to Noon

Early Voting will only take place at the Belmont Town Hall, 455 Concord Ave. Election Day voting will occur at each of the eight voting precinct locations in town.

Early Voting is available to all voters of the Commonwealth, unlike Absentee Voting that is only available to those voters who will not be in Belmont on Election Day or cannot vote in person on Election Day due to a medical disability or religious conflict.

The Town Clerk’s office always recommends that voters carry  identification when going to the polls or Early Voting in case one is required due to inactive status. 

Questions should be directed to the Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600.

Draft ’21 Budget Tops $137M, Balanced Using One-Time Funds As Override Looms

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Photo: Town Administrator Patrice Garvin at the town budget joint meeting.

Like Bullwinkle J Moose pulling a rabbit out of a hat, the town of Belmont rolled up its sleeves, dug deep into the financial hat and pulled out the latest draft of the fiscal year 2021 budget.

But the document revealed at a joint meeting on Monday, Feb. 10 at the Beech Street Center was missing something that had be anticipated for the past six months; an operating override to balance a revenue shortfall in the $6 million range.

For this coming fiscal year budget, the town will instead use one-time revenue sources and a trimming of expenditures around the edges of town departments to reach its fiscal goal.

“We’re really trying to think outside the box on how to balance the ’21 budget,” said Patrice Garvin, Belmont Town Administrator who led the budget effort with help from the newly created Financial Task Force II.

The highlights of the draft FY ’21 budget include:

  • The total operating budget is $137 million – $136,581,778 to be precise – a 6.4 percent increase, up $8.3 million, from fiscal ’20.
  • The school budget will increase by $1.9 million to $62.5 million, a 3.1 percent increase.
  • The town side of the budget will increase by 0.3 percent, a $117,000 jump.
  • The largest increase is in fixed costs, up $6.6 million to $30.8 million, a 27 percent increase largely due to the new debt associated with the construction of the Middle and High School.

Garvin said the continued skyrocketing school enrollment is overshadowing the budget and grabbing a large portion of new revenue as Belmont will have 4,700 student by this coming October, an increase of 300 students in four years.

“It seems to be driving everything in this budget,” she told a joint meeting of of the Select Board, School Committee and the Warrant Committee with members of the Capital Budget committee in attendance.

When the budget was being written in the fall of 2019, there was a realization that revenues would not come close to filling a $5.6 million revenue gap created by rising expenses from the Middle and High School project and schools.

With funds from the stabilization fund created in 2015 with $4.5 million raised by a Proposition 2 1/2 override all but depleted, it was assumed the town would call for an override in Nov. 2020 to resolve the shortfall.

In November, 2019, in an update to the Special Town Meet, the newly formed Financial Task Force II made a somewhat bold announcement to commit to a balanced budget without an override.

And on Monday, the curtain was pulled aside to reveal just how the town would pull $5.6 million out of the budget hat:

  • The largest component will come from free cash, the town’s reserves, taking $3.5 million. This will draw down the account to $2.4 million in 2021, skirting just above the percentage required by credit agencies to allow Belmont to maintain a coveted AAA bond rating.
  • The town-owned electrical utility, Belmont Light, will provide a $1 million PILOT payment (payment in lieu of taxes), substantially more than the $625,000 it annually provides the town. That payment will be returned back to the utility over time as the utility’s PILOT payment going forward will be lowered to $500,000.
  • The final component is $1.2 million from indirect costs from Water and Sewer Enterprise accounts. This is being accomplished by following a recommendation from the Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center for Public Management at UMass/Boston on a different way to calculate indirect costs.

She said she was confident that the hit on free cash will be replenished during the summer when the state certifies that amount.

“I’m not nervous about that number,” said Garvin.

In addition, there will be a trimming of expenditures in fiscal 2021:

  • Delay in capital purchases such as new police cruisers ($210,000), turn-out gear for the Fire Department ($26,250) and Central Fleet Equipment for the DPW ($47,385).
  • The implementation of the Health Plan Design Change which is projected to limit health costs to a four percent increase.
  • Freeze cost of living adjustments (COLA) during union negotiations at zero.

When asked why the town would not bite the bullet and use funds from an override to fill the current revenue gap, Garvin said “I believed we could balance it with one time funds that we have on hand and its always preferable to do so without going to the taxpayers with an override.”

While the town will push the funding of an operational override starting in Fiscal Year 2022, residents will cast their vote on a Prop 2 1/2 measure on Nov. 3, the date of the Presidential election. Garvin said the town is currently in discussion with town departments and the schools to calculate an estimate for the amount the town will ask voters to pass.

Garvin said that funding number will be announced just before the annual Town Meeting.

Middle/High School Project Takes Big Step Towards Final Cost Number

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Photo: Daedalus Project’s Shane Nolan report on the trade bids during a recent meeting of the Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee.

A sigh of relief was heard from the members of the Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee Friday. Feb. 7 when the bid results from roughly a third of the cost for the $295 million school project came in just under where they thought it would be.

Shane Nolan, senior project manager with Owners Project Manager Daedalus Projects revealed that final bids – which were opened the day before, Thursday, Feb. 6 in a process called “rip and read” – for the 18 trade subcontractors including skills such as masonry, painting, tile work, and plumbing totaled $73.6 million, approximately $1.7 million under their pre-bid estimated value.

“Is this when we cheer?” asked committee member and Select Board Chair Tom Caputo.

The bid results included some large savings in glass and glazing (an underbid of nearly $834,000) and electrical (at $17.9 million, the bid was $1.89 million under the estimate) that off set overbids in HVAC (at $24.4 million was $3.2 million over the estimate) and roofing and flashing (over by $420,000), Nolan told the committee.

With those favorable numbers in hand, the committee voted to add back work struck from the project in 2019 during what Nolan described as the “painful value engineering exercise” which resulted in $19 million cut out of construction.

Brought back from their sidelines will be:

  • Skylights in the High School Maker Space and Middle School Art Room $74,000,
  • A canopy outside the loading dock entrance, $76,000
  • A slab heat ejection at the loading dock $262,000, and
  • Wall tile to four stairwells, $202,000.

Friday’s result is a big step in finalizing the total project cost, according to Bill Lovallo, Building Committee Chair.

“If you want to just look at this as a $237 million project, a third of the job [is underway], a third of the job were in the trades that Shane just read out … and locked in and about a third of the job is still in its final stages,” said Lovallo.

According to representatives from construction manager Skanska, with the trade subcontractor bids included, the total building cost for the project as of Friday’s meeting is $154.5 million. Add into that contingency, insurance and bonds along with management services, the estimated total project cost comes in at $183.0 million.

With a grand total project cost of $237,208,732 – $52 million is coming from the Massachusetts School Building Authority which partnered with the town on the project – the roughly $54.2 million difference is made up of non-trade work controlled by Shanska.

Non-trade contractors are any third party agent that is not directly involved in the major operations of the project.

Unlike the “rip and read” process with Daedalus in which the subcontractors bid is “locked in,” bids for work with the construction manager is “more of a negotiation,” said Lovallo.

The final third of the cost to be revealed in the next six weeks.

Donation By Allisons Will Provide Belmont PD With Taser Weapons, Training

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Photo: A taser manufactured by Axon Enterprise.

The largest private donation in the history of the Belmont Police Department will provide a popular electrical weapon device and the necessary training to officers on patrol.

The gift of $101,325 from Liz and Graham Allison was accepted by the Select Board on Jan. 7 which will go the purchase of Taser weapons for use by officers on the street.

“We’ve had some very serious situations [in Belmont],” including one in which a knife was involved, said recently retired Belmont Police Chief Richard McLaughlin who facilitated the gift request.

“This gives us another tool to be able to utilize and deescalate a situation,” said McLaughlin who facilitated the gift request.

The Allison’s have made several substantial gifts to various town organizations and groups, many anonymously. But McLaughlin said they would like to be associated with this gift as it has the potential of saving lives.

A Taser fires two small barbed darts that puncture the skin and remain attached to the person, delivering a modulated electric current designed to disrupt voluntary control of muscles. While the weapon is deemed less lethal than guns and rifles, there remains a possibility of serious injury and even death whenever the device is used.

The Belmont Police department will soon join more than 200 departments across the Bay State which currently have Tasers in their arsenal.

McLaughlin said the funding gift is just the first step in a long process before the weapon is carried by the department. Officers must successfully complete a state-approved training program, the department must create policies for their use along with continued funding.

Presidential Primary Elections Include Early Voting Days

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Photo: Early voting is coming to Belmont.

Belmont’s Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Green/Rainbows will have the chance to vote for presidential candidates in their party’s primary election from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, March 3 after the Select Board signed the warrant approving the measure, according to Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman.

In addition to the four party voters, the 9,000 residents registered as unenrolled can pick up one of the party’s ballots to vote for those candidates. But if you belong to the Pizza or Pirate parties – yes, the state recognize those political entities – you’ll have to sit this one out.

Voters will cast their ballots at their usual polling precinct. Residents can register to vote, change their party affiliation, change their name or voting address up until Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. at the Town Clerk’s Office in Town Hall.

Cushman will also be registering students at Belmont High School on Feb. 10 during the lunch periods outside the cafeteria.

Cushman has announced a week of early voting on the following dates and times:

  • Monday, Feb. 24        8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Feb. 25        8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Wednesday, Feb. 26  8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  • Thursday, Feb. 27     8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Friday, Feb. 28          8 a.m. to Noon

All Early Voting will take place at the Belmont Town Hall, 455 Concord Ave. Election Day voting will take place at each of the eight voting precinct locations.

Early Voting is available to all voters of the Commonwealth, unlike Absentee Voting that is only available to those voters who will not be in Belmont on Election Day or cannot vote in person on Election Day due to a medical disability or religious conflict with voting on Election Day.

The Town Clerk’s office always recommends that voters carry  identification when going to the polls or Early Voting in case one is required due to inactive status.

Questions should be directed to the Town Clerk’s office at 617-993-2600.

Bidding Opens For New Skating Rink, Decision On Winning Offer In May

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Photo: A new rink will replace the five decade old “Skip” Viglirolo Skating Rink.

In the same week the Belmont’s Skip Viglirolo Skating Rink was forced to shut down due to “unseasonably warm” temperatures – in January(!)– the town and schools OKed opening the bidding process to build a next-generation private/public partnership skating facility on school property west of Harris Field.

“This is actually a big moment in the development of this project,” said Jeffery Wheller, Belmont’s senior planner before a joint meeting of the Select Board and School Committee as each group voted unanimously to approve the release of the final version of the request for proposal on Jan. 15.

“Hopefully after tonight’s presentation we’ll get some exciting responses to the project,” he said.

The town’s Community Development Office also released a seven-month timeline of important milestones the RFP will undergo before a deal is struck.

  • Wednesday, Jan. 15: RFP is released to the public.
  • Wednesday, Jan. 29: Site visit and preliminary meeting with interested parties.
  • Tuesday, Feb. 25: Select Board/School Committee discuss review process.
  • Friday, March 20: Proposals are due.
  • Tuesday, April 7: School Committee/Select Board review top proposals.
  • Tuesday, April 28: School Committee/Select Board interview best proposals.
  • Tuesday, May 12: School Committee/Select Board selects the winning proposal.
  • Monday, June 1: On the second night of the 2020 annual Town Meeting, a Special Town Meeting will be convened to vote: 1). To lease school property to a private developer(s) and 2). amend the definition in the town’s zoning bylaw on municipal recreational uses.
  • Tuesday, June 9: School Committee awards a contract to the winning proposal.
  • Between June 10 to July 8: School Committee negotiates a long-term lease with the selected developer(s).

The town is predicting the design and site plan review process managed by the Planning Board will take between six to nine months. Only when that is completed can the developer seek a building permit.

The existing rink – known as “The Skip” – will remain in operation until the new facility is up and running and will be taken down by the town unless the area that the rink currently occupies will is needed to fulfill the town’s programmatic needs.

The RFP is fairly similar to earlier drafts, although a proposed tennis complex has been removed from the proposal.

The main features of the RFP include:

  • The facility – which may be expanded to be a year round operation – will need to share the land west of the existing rink and Harris Field with three athletic fields, a pair of throwing circles and 110 parking spaces (90 reserved for students on school days) that will be built at town expense.
  • The facility – with a maximum height of two-and-a-half stories – can contain a full-size and one half-size sheet of ice. The building will have at least 300 seats for spectators, public restrooms, a skate shop and food concessions.
  • The building will have a minimum of four locker rooms with two containing 35 lockers for boys’ and girls’ varsity and the other two with 45 lockers for the junior varsity teams. Each room will have a coaches room, showers and storage. The facility will also have a refs room, an athletic trainers room and wet area.
  • Two locker rooms will also be used by high school fall and spring sports, one each for the home and visiting teams. The restrooms will also have outdoor accessibility.
  • The town would “prefer” a zero-net energy facility i.e. avoiding fossil fuels to power the site.
  • The high school’s ice hockey teams will have four consecutive hours of ice time Monday to Saturday, during the 15-week season. Games will be played over two hours. Belmont Youth Hockey will have hours and times that meet its growing needs as will programs linked to the town’s Recreation Department.
  • The hours of operation will be negotiated with the winning bidder and the town.

Each candidate will be evaluated and ranked based on a matrix in which the town will grade the four comparative evaluation criteria the town has selected.

For example, those bidders that can show experience designing and building a significant number of similar rinks that have been successful and with similar goals as Belmont is seeking will receive a “very advantageous” ranking; those who have built only “some” facilities will be seen as being “advantageous” while those with no experience constructing rinks will be deemed “non-advantageous.”

They’re Off: Incumbents Dash To Secure Nomination Papers For Town-Wide Offices

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Photo: Mike Widmer would be seeking his 13th term as Town Moderator.

The 2020 Belmont Town Election is still 98 days away on April 7, 2020 but it appears this edition will be few if any open seats among the 11 town-wide positions up for grabs when Belmont voters go to the polls.

Incumbents in eight of the 11 possible races have quickly snagged nomination papers from the Town Clerk’s Office in preparation for re-election campaigns.

The current office holders who have taken the first steps for a return to town government are:

  • Town Moderator (1 year): Michael Widmer
  • Town Treasurer (3 years) : Floyd Carman
  • School Committee (Two 3-year terms): Catherine Bowen, Michael Crowley
  • Board of Assessors (3 years): Robert P. Reardon
  • Beard of Health (3 year term): Donna David
  • Board of Library Trustees (Two 3 year terms): Kathleen Keohane, Gail Mann

Of those who have yet to take out papers, the most notable absentee is the Select Board’s Adam Dash, who was first elected in 2017 winning 63 percent of the vote.

But speaking to the Belmontonian in the past week, Dash gave every indication of seeking a second term to the Board, saying he would “decide” on a possible run shortly after the holidays “when people are thinking about the election.”

Only Alexander E. Corbett III of the Cemetery Commission and Donna Brescia, the chair of the Housing Authority, are incumbents who have yet to obtain papers.

It remains to be seen if the lack of “open” seats will deter newcomers from seeking to throw “their hats into the ring.” Incumbents have built-in advantages when they run: name recognition, for many three years of accomplishments, and past supporters they can return to. As Guy Molyneux puts it in The American Prospect, “elections are fundamentally a referendum on the incumbent.”

“Only if [the electorate] decide to ‘fire’ the incumbent do they begin to evaluate whether each of the challengers is an acceptable alternative.”

For those who are determined to run for town-wide office, stop by the Town Clerk’s office at Town Hall to pick up nomination papers; then submit the signed forms to the Clerk’s by the deadline, Feb. 18, 2020, at 5 p.m.  

The Town Clerk’s web pages contain quite a bit of information to help make a decision to seek office at https://www.belmont-ma.gov/town-clerk then select Elections: Running for Elected Office and Town Meeting; feel free to call us at 617-993-2600, or email at townclerk@belmont-ma.gov

As FY ’21 Tax Rate Falls, Average Tax Bill Jumps 11% As High School Debt Exclusion Kicks In

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Photo: The Assessors before the Select Board (from left) Martin Millane, Robert Reardon and Charles Laverty III

Belmont homeowners knew the day of reckoning was coming.

And that day will be July 1, 2020 when the dual impact of the successful vote on the $213 million debt exclusion to build the new Middle and High School and continued skyrocketing property values will result in one of the largest annual property tax increases in recent memory, according to Robert Reardon, the long-time chair of the Belmont Board of Assessors.

“This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but maybe the amount will,” said Reardon.

The red hot Belmont property market contributed in pushing up the “average” single family home value (made up of the sum of all home values divided by the number of homes) to $1,285,000 with property values on single family homes increased a whopping 18 percent in the past 12 months outpacing all other categories such as condos (6 percent) and multi-families (10 percent), Reardon told a special meeting of the Select Board held Wednesday, Dec. 18.

“[Belmont] remains a desireable place to live and it has a good school system. And while it’s very close to Boston, you can still get a good yard and a garage while in Cambridge for the same price you’ll likely get off street parking,” said Reardon whose day job is as director of Cambridge’s Assessing Department.

The total annual taxes on that “average” house comes to $14,135, an 11 percent increase from the $12,720 set the previous fiscal year, with half of the $1,415 increase attributed to the debt exclusion passed by voters in November, 2018, said Reardon, who attended the meeting with his fellow board members Charles Laverty, III and Martin Millane.

Fiscal
Year		Tax
Rate		Avg.
Assess		Avg.
Taxes		Avg.
Taxes %
Increase		Median
Assess		Median
Taxes
201612.90$928,000$11,6566.56$848,000$10,560
201712.69$942,000$11,9542.56$856,000$10,863
201812.15$1,003,750$12,1962.02$910,000$11,057
201911.67$1,090,000$12,7204.30$997,000$11,635
202011.00$1,285,000$14,13511.12$1,179,000$12,969

The rest of the increase consists of the annual two-and-a-half percent ceiling on total property taxes the town can levy and new growth which came in at $1.1 million.

Reardon also noted this year’s debt exclusion only covers the first half of the construction funding with a second, equally large increase coming in fiscal 2021.

Reardon came before the board to reveal the town’s property tax rate for the coming fiscal year – which begins on July 1, 2020 – at $11 per $1,000 assessed value, a reduction of two-thirds of a buck from the fiscal ’19 rate of $11.67.

The total assessed value of property in Belmont shot up to $9.210 billion from $7.947 billion in fiscal ’19.

As in past years, the assessors recommended, and the selectmen agreed to, a single tax classification and no real estate exemptions. Reardon said Belmont does not have anywhere near the amount of commercial and industrial space (at must be least a minimum of 20 percent, said Reardon) to creating separate tax rates for residential and commercial properties. Belmont’s commercial base is 3.9 percent of the total real estate.

“There’s always this misconception that if you have a split rate it’s going to be beneficial for homeowners but that’s not the case,” said Reardon.