Planning Board’s Chair Taylor Yates Forms Committee For Select Board Run [VIDEO]

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Photo: Taylor Yates (center) with Campaign Manager Adam Dash and Treasurer Cabell Eames

Planning Board Chair Taylor Yates has officially formed a campaign committee to seek election to the Belmont Select Board in the 2025 town election.

With his campaign Chair, former two-term Select Board member Adam Dash, and Treasurer Cabell Eames at his side, Yates submitted the required paperwork to Town Clerk Ellen Cushman on Halloween, Oct. 31, being the first candidate in the race for the seat currently occupied by incumbent Roy Epstein.

A relative newcomer to Belmont – he settled on Lawrence Lane in 2018 – Yates has been part of Belmont government almost from the start of his residency when he was appointed in early 2019 to the Vision21 Implementation Committee where he was appointed chair in 2022. He was elected to Town Meeting from Precinct 2 in 2021. He was appointed by the Select Board to the Planning Board in 2023. A real estate agent, Yates lives with his wife and two young children.

This year, he and Paul Joy of the Economic Development Committee spearheaded initiatives at the annual Town Meeting on restaurant reform including parking expansion. He has been a leader in special permit reform, chaired the Yes for Appointed Treasurer campaign, and led the Planning Board through the conclusion of the MBTA Communities Act.

“Belmont is going to make profoundly consequential decisions on our finances, our schools, and our zoning over the next three years. A new generation of leadership on the Select Board will be instrumental in ensuring that we evolve for a new era and nurture what makes Belmont special,” said Yates in a press release dated Oct. 31.

“I was impressed by Taylor’s qualifications and appointed him to the Vision 21 Implementation Committee to shepherd the town’s comprehensive planning process,” said Dash.

“His leadership will be crucial as we make important decisions on finances, education, and zoning,” said Eames. “Supporting a new generation of leaders is key to preserving Belmont’s uniqueness while seizing future opportunities.”

Thanks, Wall Street: Town Cobbles Together $2.25M Finance Package To Fill Rink’s Shortfall

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Photo:

Facing the task of closing a $2.1 million gap facing the proposed Municipal Skating Rink, Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin was staring at a quandry.

Two weeks before the Special Town Meeting when a rescue package would be presented to the members, Garvin had two sources to make up the deficit, a $750,000 state earmark thanks to State Sen. Will Brownsberger, and a town account created from a fire insurance settlement when the Kendal Arts Center burned to the ground more than two decades ago.

But the possibility using a huge chunk of the Kendal’s $2.5 million would be problematic, according to Garvin. While the rink qualifies to use the account as a captial project, several town committees and members note the Kendall School Insurance Fund is an important element in supporting future major town developments as it will help finance the project’s planning and design stage.

“It really hurt coming up with the budget,” said Garvin. “[An answer] didn’t occur to me until we were really trying not to raid the Kendal [Fund].”

And the solution came from Wall Street. Garvin reviewed the town’s financials and saw the town’s investment income account had an impressive showing. As recently as the posted third-quarter results on the Finance Department website, investment income stood at $1.5 million with an expected $200,000 monthly increase over the final three months, according to the town’s Financial Director Jennifer Hewitt. What better time to benefit from the revenue windfall attributable to the bonds the town issued last fall to save the rink and not drain the Kendal fund.

“As soon as I thought about it, I said, ‘Why didn’t I think of that before,” said Garvin. “Sometimes you just need to look at it differently,” she said, as the town firmed up the supplemental budget package it will present at Monday’s Special Town Meeting, June 10.

The $2.25 million supplement funds package will be comprised of:

  • $950,000 allocated from the Kendal Fund,
  • $750,000 state earmark shepherd by State Sen. Will Brownsberger to pay for a state-of-the-art
    CO2 refrigeration system, and,
  • $550,000 from the town’s 2024 Investment income account.

Best of all, according to Select Board Chair Roy Epstein, the package will not increase residential property taxes as did the $29.9 million 2023 debt exclusion, while the Kendal Fund will have $1.15 million remaining in its account.

Epstein noted the package will fill the entire shortfall while adding a small $150,000 contingency “to give a small safety margin for the project.”

The reason for the warrant article in the first place was to respond to the request by the Municipal
Skating Rink Building Committee for an additional $2.1 million for the project. The rink’s $29.9 million pricetag approved by voters in April 2023, ballooned to $35.2 million by February 2024 due to cost inflation and . After completing a round of value engineering, the rink remained in arrears by $2.1 million, requiring the building community to approach the Select Board and town to find a solution.

Monday’s meeting will include segments explaining the cause of the shortfall and the finance package.

A potential fly in the ointment facing the rink Monday is the stripping of solar panel arrays that is expected to raise the hackles from the town’s Energy Committee and a large number of “green” Town Meeeting supporters.

While “recogniz[ing] the disappointment that PV panels are not in the current scope,” Epstein noted the “building will be fully PV ready and we are actively pursuing other avenues to fund this last piece.”

Select Board Sends $8.4M Override To Voters With A Compact In Tow

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Photo: The Select Board voting to present a $8.4 million override to voters at the town’s annual Election in April

After Belmont’s Select Board voted unanimously on Tuesday morning, Jan. 30 to place an $8.4 million override on the ballot at the annual Town Election, Board Chair Roy Epstein believed their decision will be seen by the town’s voters as the necessary course to take.

“We’re relying basically on our experiences what might work,” said Epstein after the vote. “Some people have indicated they would like it to be smaller [amount]. Others said they would like it to be larger. So I’m hoping that means we landed at the right place.”

After nearly six months of meetings, public events, and the decision to pegging how much the “ask” of residents came down to two competing figures: a $7.5 million override that would protect the current level of full-time positions in the town and schools, and $8.4 million, which will allow the town and schools to invest in specific area. In the end, the Select Board settled on what they consider is necessary to carry the town over the next three years.

“We appreciate the concerns that some residents have expressed to me,” said Mark Paolillo, who will be retiring from the board at the April election. “But I think [the override] is absolutely needed in order for us to continue to serve the residents and provide services that they expect.”

“This is not an irresponsible number,” said Elizabeth Dionne to the half dozen residents attending the Town Hall meeting. “It is a painful number.”

According to Jennifer Hewitt, the town’s financial director and assistant town administrator, with the town committed to the override, the town and school district can now release their fiscal year 2025 budgets, on Friday, Feb. 2. The Select Board, School and Warrant Committee will meet Thursday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at Town Hall for the fourth Budget Summit at which time the fiscal ’25 budget will be presented.

The expected override is by no means a surprise, as the town has been struggling for more than a decade with a structural budget deficit created by ever-increasing expenses and a difficulty to raise sufficient revenue with annual property tax increases capped at 2 1/2 percent. Add to that, the board has inherited a number of costly such as a large and growing pension fund liability.

With a $6 million cliff facing the town in fiscal ’25, even a “level” budget that seeks to keep personnel and services at the previous year’s proportions would require a significant increase in funding.

While the funds will fill the budget deficit in the next three years, the board views the largest override in Belmont’s history in terms of an investment that in the long run will benefit both the town and schools. Epstein noted “a potential for restructuring certain activities to free up monies to deploy them more effectively.” Case in point: School Superintendent Jill Geiser plans to use the extra funding to lay a foundation with added Special Education staffing and planning with the goal to reduce the number of students being placed “out-of-district” for their schooling, which Dionne said is the greatest financial burdens facing future school budgets.

Agreeing to the larger override amount “is the starting point of making that investment with potential long-term benefits,” said Warrant Committee Chair Geoff Lubien.

“That’s why I believe the $8.4 million is necessary to make that even a possibility,” said Epstein.

The alternative to the override would be cataclysmic to all municipal and educational functions in Belmont. A forecasting exercise on the impact of a “no” vote would force painful cuts in staffing and programs in public safety, public works, library and all other town services while the schools would see significant reduction in staff as students will be without extra curriculum activities, the elimination of popular classes and higher students-to-teacher ratios.

“It’s really easy to destroy institutions, it’s very difficult to rebuild,” said Dionne. “If we don’t have a successful override, we will lose a cadre of talent we cannot replace easily. It will cost us far more to rebuild and to maintain.”

Acknowledging the large “ask” of residents, the Select Board will attempt to placate voters anxiety voting for the override by “hammering out” what is being called a compact with the community. Under this informal agreement, the board, school committee and other town entities will work together to implement policies – such as revamping zoning bylaws to facilitate business creation – and initiatives to manage expenses in an attempt to “bend the curve” of ever rising costs all the while look for ways to maximize revenues.

“What we [as a town] have to be … is faster, better, smarter,” said Dionne.

Under the compact, the Select Board will commit funds to specific public concerns. One discussed Tuesday is appropriating override dollars to repair and replace the town’s threadbare and increasingly unsafe sidewalks, which have been a lament among residents for nearly two decades.

The compact will also “force us to be more fiscally disciplined” using one-time funds such as free cash and from out-of-town sources such as government grants, according to Lubien.

Belmont FY ’24 Property Tax Rate Falls But Not Owners Bill; Average Single Family Price Tag Tops $1.6M

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Photo: Assessors Charles Laverty III and Bob Reardon with Assessing Administrator Dan Dargon before the Select Board during the annual property tax rate hearing, Monday, Dec. 4

In what could be the final time an elected Belmont Board of Assessors makes the presentation, the three-member board announced a drop in the fiscal year 2024 property tax rate during its annual property classification tax rate hearing before the Select Board on Monday, Dec. 4.

“The tax rate that’s going to be proposed by the Board of Assessors will be a decrease from a rate [of] $11.24 [per $1,000 of assessed value] for this year, down to $10.57 for fiscal year ’24,” Bob Reardon, the long-time Assessor’s chair, told the Select Board.

While it may initially sound like a windfall for homeowners, members from both boards told property owners not to expect a drop in their bills in the new year. Reardon said the vast majority of the decline of 67 cents was due to the increase in the value of all properties over the past year.

“Just because the tax rates are coming down doesn’t necessarily lead to people paying less,” said Reardon. “The tax rate is simply computed by the amount being raised divided by the total assessed value.”

“I think people hear, ‘Oh, the rates have gone down, great,'” said Select Board Vice Chair Elizabeth Dionne. “No, that is not what it means. This just means your [home’s] value is higher.”

Values for all Belmont property classifications increased in the past year. The town’s total residential and personal property assessment is $11.3 billion, up from $9.0 billion in fiscal year ’23.

The actual tax levy – how much the town can raise after increasing real estate by the maximum annual 2.5 percent – to be raised in fiscal year ’24 is $119.5 million, of which $106.3 million comes from the total levy for residential and commercial property. An additional $13.1 million comes from eight debt exclusions for everything from the construction of the Beech Street Center to the new Middle/High school. The debt exclusions for the new rink and library will be included in the calculation for the fiscal year 2025. According to Reardon, new growth collected in the past year “remains strong,” raising $876,069.

Despite higher-than-average mortgage rates, during which property values “usually take a dip,” Reardon told the board that due to a lack of inventory of houses for sale, the average single-family home in Belmont jumped to $1,615,200, an increase of more than 10 percent from $1,436,500 in fiscal year 2023.

With its presentation on Monday, the Board of Assessors will face a Special Town Meeting in the next two months, where members will be asked to change the board from its current elected members to an appointed board. Similar to the recent change of the town Treasurer from an elected to an appointed position, the Town Meeting would follow a recommendation of the Collins Center Report.

As in past years, the assessors recommended, and the Select Board agreed to a single tax classification and not to enact real estate exemptions. With barely five percent of Belmont’s property base commercial, Reardon reiterated past statements that commercial property must reach 30 percent to make a split rate effective and not deter businesses from staying or coming to Belmont.

While voting to approve the Assessors’ rate recommendation, the Select Board decides on two related issues: whether to implement a singular “split” rate for commercial and residential properties and to approve a residential exemption that would reduce the rate on owner-occupied properties at the expense of non-occupied residences. 

As for residential exemptions, the administrative costs to run such a program would be prohibitive for a revenue-neutral initiative. As with the split rate, two-thirds of rate payers would see little reductions or increases in their tax bill.

Garvin Receives High Praise From Select Board In Annual Review, 3% Merit Pay Increase (And Told To Take A Vaca!)

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Photo: Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin

It’s not usual in an annual job review that the person is told to take a vacation. But that was Elizabeth Dionne’s recommendation to Belmont Town Administrator Patrice Garvin during the Select Board’s annual performance assessment on Monday, Sept. 25.

“Take more vacation time!” wrote Dionne in her evaluation of Garvin, who is nearing six years as the town’s chief administrative officer. “I am very concerned about burnout [as Belmont has] been in crisis mode for a long time and Patrice has provided a steady hand at the tiller.”

Being scolded for not taking more off was as harsh a criticism the town administrator received as Garvin’s Select Board bosses gave her high marks for the work she performed over the past fiscal year.

“I have the highest regard for Patrice,” said Board Chair Roy Epstein. “Not everyone in Belmont realizes the demands put upon the town administrator, and how difficult it is to be successful in this role.”

The board was in sync ranking Garvin with nearly identical evaluations of her performance for the past year. Garvin received the top mark of five on a scale ranging from 0 to 5 in five of eight categories – personal character characteristics, professionalism, Select Board support and relations, organizational leadership and personal management, and financial management. Her lowest ranking was in public relations with an average of 4. Her overall score was 4.79/5.

The board’s written evaluations were equally united in their plaudits for Garvin’s execution of her job.

“She is extraordinarily devoted and tireless in her efforts to make the town run well for the residents and employees. I observe this every day and believe she is one of the foremost practitioners in her field,” said Epstein.

“She continues to provide highly effective and dedicated support to members of the Select Board,” said Mark Paolillo. “She has built a strong financial team and has strong financial skills that resulted in a balanced fiscal year 2024 budget that addressed many of the service gaps and needs within our town. areas of improvement.”

“[Garvin] is not afraid of change,” said the Board Vice Chair Dionne. “She is not threatened by strong people around her, and she is tough and resilient. You can learn a lot about someone from the people she hires. Patrice obviously has solid and well-deserved calm self-confidence. As a result, she has surrounded herself by smart and capable people, creating a truly impressive leadership team.”

Dionne said she personally feels Patrice, as “a strong female leader,” receives “criticism from employees, unions, and certain members of the public that might not be leveled against a male in the same role. The Select Board must be more active in providing her with visible support and political cover.”

Garvin thanked the board for their continued support for her leadership in running the town’s daily operations. “The fact that you scored me similarly tells me that I’m doing the same thing for each of you, which is I couldn’t be more proud of that I serve you as the board,” told the board Garvin at Monday’s meeting. Garvin praised the team she has built in her six years.

“I can’t tell you the work that we’ve been able to do in a short time. It’s been amazing,” she said. “I continue to look at ways to improve the town, departments, and the staff. I really enjoy working in Belmont, and I hope to continue.”

The review was followed by the board approving a three percent merit increase, with Garvin’s annual salary increased to $212,384 effective at the start of the 2024 fiscal year on July 1. Epstein said Garvin’s salary is slightly lower than the average of comparative towns and cities in the region.

Garvin’s contract expires in January 2027.

Library Building Committee Seeking To Use ‘The Ditch’ For Site’s Construction Staging

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Photo: Lawn or ditch; the Library Building Committee wants to use the site as a staging area for the construction of the new library

The patch of sunken land adjacent to the Underwood Pool and Concord Avenue doesn’t have an official name attached to it. Some call it the Underwood Lawn, but it’s sort of an extended ditch.

In winter, the town fills the basin with water, and it’s used for outdoor skating like the ponds the old timers talk about. It gets pretty swampy in spring and summer after a couple of days of rain draining into the space. It’s principally where youngsters eat ice cream while taking a break from frolicking in the pool.

But to the building committee overseeing the construction of the $39.5 million, 42,000 sq.ft. new town library, that “ditch” is the perfect location to become the main staging area for the project, where tons of steel, building materials, and parking for the construction team.

During a project update before the Select Board, Clair Colburn, chair of the building committee, presented a first draft plan in which the land would be fenced off and prepared for construction and parking use – mostly layering the site with stones and gravel – then returning the land to its present state. In addition, the committee will make pains to protect the existing culvert that takes Wellington Brook from the library property, under the ditch and Concord Avenue, to Clay Pit Pond.

The committee is eyeing the site for staging and parking to keep down expenses. Colburn said if they can not use this location, the committee will be required to rent a warehouse to store the material and truck it in and out on an already congested Concord Avenue. Also, without dedicated parking, construction workers will take up scarce spaces on Concord and residential side streets.

“The best option is to keep it there,” said Colburn.

Just how receptive town officials, residents, and especially the adjacent neighbors will be to a supply location and five-days-a-week parking for one “pool season” – spring through fall of 2024 – is a request the committee knows will come with its own issues.

“We know this will be a hot-button issue for some people,” said Colburn.

And the Select Board is already asking if transforming the drainage ditch with a culvert is possible.

“Can you park cars there? Can you do that?” queried Select Board Chair Mark Paolillo, who will either deny or approve the ask with his two fellow members. Town Administrator Patrice Garvin said several town offices are “running all that down” to determine if it can be done safely.

An official request will come for town consideration as demolition of the current library and the construction of the new facility are scheduled to begin around the New Year, according to Building Committee Member Kathy Keohane, who joined Colburn before the committee. However, before that occurs, the committee will hold at least two public forums to discuss the project.

In other news of the new library, one of the significant architectural features that library proponents pointed to for the past three years is receiving a haircut. The impressive main stairs that would allow patrons to work, seat and ponder life’s questions as patrons moved between floors is no more. Not that it’s gone; it’s just been squeezed a bit with only three levels of seating and a more typical turn (to the right) to reach the second floor.

After Six Years, A Farewell To Select Board’s Fedora-Wearing Member Who Leaves Three Nuggets Of Advice And A Poem

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Photo: Adam Dash

The Belmont Town Hall auditorium was the location of a fond farewell for Adam Dash who is leaving the Select Board after serving six years on the town’s three-member panel overseeing town government.

Dash, known for his collection of fedoras, was feted by his fellow select board members – Mark Paolillo and Roy Epstein – and a slew of town employees all of who commended the Goden Street resident for his dedication to the town during a board tenure that included fiscal constraints and the sudden and profound impact of the Covid pandemic.

“He always made decisions that he thought were best for the community, never for political gain,” said Paolillo. “And the community has benefited from that.”

(from left) Select Board Chair Mark Paolillo, Town Administrator Patrice Garvin, Select Board members Adam Dash and Roy Epstein.

After his six years on the board – winning a seat by defeating Guy Carbone by a two-to-one margin in 2017 and running unopposed in 2020 – Dash said while it was the right decision not to seek re-election, he would miss working with all those in government and elected positions.

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve this community, and I am reminded of it every day in the kind words I have received since my announcement that I was leaving the board,” he said.

Dash dispensed two pieces of advice “whether you want to hear it or not.”

“Please be aware of historically marginalized groups in town. Often, I am the only town official at various cultural events and demonstrations held by such groups, and the town needs to make sure there is representation going forward,” said Dash.

He also suggested that all keep an open mind on matters until all presentations and public comments have been heard on issues before the town and select board.

“It is fine to come into a meeting with an idea of what should be decided, but digging into a position with no possibility of change negates the whole public meeting process and does not foster public confidence in our boards, committees, and departments,” he said.

Dash reminded the assemble the three rules he lived by when he became chair in 2018:

  • One, no drama.
  • Two, be respectful of each other.
  • Three, don’t waste anyone’s time.

“I hope you all can adopt these rules in your work for the town. I can say that it would be appreciated by those with whom you interact,” said Dash.

And for his closing words, the attorney transformed into a poet.

“Once I sat at the table

And supped on the power

That comes from the vote

I like to think that I acted

With and without a mask

And inhaled the ideas

That finished the task

My political part-time sentence is over.”

Schools Leave Empty Handed As Select Board/Warrant Committee To Place Added Local Aid To Free Cash

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Photo: Educators attend a recent Select Board/Warrant Committee joint meeting at Town Hall

On March 1, Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey filed her state budget proposal with increases in Chapter 70 local aid, in which Belmont would receive an additional $1.4 million net for fiscal ’24, which begins July 1. And the boost in aid could not have come at a better time for the schools, the largest of the town’s departments.

Facing a $2.1 million deficit that could see nearly two dozen teachers, educators, and administrators losing their jobs and positions failing to be hired, the school district and Belmont School Committee placed their hopes that some portion of the governor’s largess would be directed to education.

But in a joint meeting held Monday night, March 20, the Belmont Select Board and the Warrant Committee (the Town Meeting’s fiscal watchdog) voted to cap the amount of free cash to use in the fiscal ’24 budget – which tops off at $138.3 million – at slightly more than $10 million. As for the added money coming from the governor’s budget, $600,000 would be allocated to the district’s depleted Special Education reserve account, with the remainder carried forward into the town’s free cash account.

At the end of the night, the schools will be asked to fill the $2.1 million deficit with the planned job cuts.

John Sullivan, head of the Belmont Education Association, who attended the meeting with two dozen teachers and administrators carrying signs calling to keep current staff, said the decision, if unaltered, will be felt in the classrooms.

“Free cash should be spent on what we need right now, and right now, we need it for staffing,” Sullivan said after the meeting. “Your kids are the ones that are ultimately impacted by these cuts.”

The town has allocated more than two-thirds of the $15 million in free cash it stockpiled over the past decade into the general budget with the schools being the chief driver, having witnessed an unprecedented 12.7 percent increase in expenses in fiscal ’24. The School District points out the record rise as a combination of two significant factors: the cost of opening the new Middle School on Concord Avenue and a historic jump in Special Education expenditures, specifically Out-of-District placement of students, that hit the budget hard.

The decision to squirrel away all future state funds is due to the realities the town is facing that it will be facing an $11 million shortfall in fiscal ’25 and $12 million in fiscal ’26. Current calculations show the town will have $5 million in the rainy day fund in fiscal ’25.

By marshaling all available state aid into free cash now, according to town officials, reduce the size of the Proposition 2 1/2 override request set to be on the ballot next April. Observers believe voters will not be amenable to a double-digit request, pointing to the rejected override this month by Newton voters that would have closed its school district’s $6 million budget gap.

“We know we need to have an override for fiscal ’25,” said Jennifer Hewitt, the town’s assistant town administrator and finance director. “But the goal is to try to make that number a winnable number” so the town isn’t stuck with “really, really bad decisions” if the override fails.

“We need to think about next year,” said Mark Paolillo, Select Board chair.

And having reserves in free cash will be critical in the worst-case scenario if voters bail on an override. The account will be used to mitigate what soon-to-be Select Board member Elizabeth Dionne described as a possible “blood bath” where the town and school district will see entire departments and services decimated with a back of the envelope calculations predicting a 10 percent cut in teaching positions.

While sympathetic to town and schools requests, Adam Dash – who will be giving up his seat on the board on April 4 – said “it’s a very dire situation, and unfortunately, it’s a bit of a zero-sum game at this point” as the town seeks a fiscally prudent solution. “The problem is that we need to bank some money and not deplete the entire savings account, what free cash is.”

But to School and Warrant Committee member Michael Crowley, the policy is a Faustian pact in which educators and programs are put on the chopping block to prepare for a future unknown. And like Oliver Twist with a bowl in hand, Crowley urged the town to find “just $500,000” to preserve posts such as teacher assistants in the elementary schools that the district has targeted for redundancy.

“Another half million in the spirit of compromise won’t destroy the bank,” said Crowley as educators in the room applauded.

But Garvin warned funds transferred from free cash to the schools would need to be offset with cuts elsewhere.

The one glimmer of hope for school advocates and educators is the likelihood that the Massachusetts House and Senate will join Healey in boosting local aid allocations in the next iteration of their budgets in the coming month. While Garvin stood firm on the town’s intention to slot any additional local aid to free cash, Select Board’s Roy Epstein was receptive to using a portion of any additional revenue from Beacon Hill towards the schools.

Steve Sloan, a Goden Street resident with a child in the district, said it’s honestly disrespectful to the parents to talk about putting all this extra money into free cash without even knowing how much you have” until the state budget is finalized.

“When you’ve got all these cuts on the table. I think that’s a bad optic and you’re sending a terrible message. At least take a compromise solution when you know how much you have.”

Belmont’s Property Tax Rate Drops But Average Yearly Bill Will Jump $900

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Photo: Belmont property owners will see an increase in next fiscal year’s tax bill

Property owners would see Belmont’s property tax rate decrease as the Board of Assessors presented a series of recommendations at a public meeting before the Belmont Select Board at its Dec. 5 meeting.

The Assessors propose a property tax rate for fiscal year 2023 of $11.25 per $1,000 of assessed value, a drop from the current rate of $11.56 per $1,000, according to Robert Reardon, long-time chair of the Board of Assessors. The Select Board voted unanimously to adopt the new rate.

But due to a hot residential real estate market that resulted in escalating home values, the average property tax bill for households will increase. According to the Assessors, the average value of a single family house in Belmont rose to $1,463,000, up a robust $116,800 from $1,346,300 in fiscal year 2022. The average value of a single family house statewide is $525,788.

With the Proposition 2 1/2 increase of the tax levy and the impact on the tax rate of nine debt exclusions – which includes the Senior Center, the Wellington Elementary School and three segments of the new Middle and High School – which makes up 12 percent of the total tax rate, the expected property tax increase on an average house will be approximately $900 for this coming fiscal year, according to Reardon. Without that additional debt, the tax rate would be $9.90 per $1,000.

In addition, the Assessors are recommending the town not create a split tax classification where commercial property would be taxed at a higher rate than residential homes., Reardon said since commercial real estate makes up just five percent of Belmont’s property base, a split rate would not raise any more in taxes while businesses would be hit with a significant rate increase while homeowners would see a very small reduction. The Select Board supported the recommendation.

Belmont, SEIU Come To Agreement; Three Unions Remain in Negotiations

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Photo: A successful agreement was signed Monday between the town and one of the municipal union (Twitter, CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The Belmont Select Board approved a collective bargaining agreement with the union representing town staff and library assistants at its Aug. 29 meeting.

Belmont’s Human Resources Director Shawna Healey said the three-year contract with SEIU Local 888 is retroactive to July 1, 2020 and will continue to June 30, 2023. The contract includes a cost of living adjustment in each fiscal year of two percent and language changes from the previous contract such as changing the holiday in October from Columbus Day to Indiginous People’s Day while also adopting the BRAVE Act – paid time off for days spent on military orders – for its employees.

The union members will also receive a one-time payment to recognize employees that worked through the Covid-19 epidemic from March 2020 to March 2021 with those mostly working “on-site” will get $1,000 and those working hybrid will take home $500.

Three union contracts continue to be negotiated, said Healey. Both the firefighters and the patrol officers have been working under contracts that ended on June 30, 2020 while the Belmont Library Association’s contract expired on June 30, 2022.