All right. I'll call the Air Board of Assessors meeting uh to order at 2:02 p.m. on Thursday the 10th of November. >> Hello, John. By the way, >> hello Ed. How are we doing, sir? >> I am now on an iPad. I don't know if you can see me or not. Probably not, but
that's okay. >> It's like you're from the future. >> Okay. We were used to operating off the telephone anyway, so this is fine. I can see you. I can see Thomas now. All right. And I'll stop with my little commentary.
>> Uh, have you had a chance to look at the agenda, Ed? >> I did. I did. Uh, so I can make a motion to approve the agenda. >> Uh, as written, >> the chair will second. All those in favor? >> I. >> Chair says I. That's two nil. Passes.
And >> And I do have Go ahead, John. I I was just going to ask if you had an opportunity to read through the last meeting's minutes. >> Yes. I have one place here that doesn't make sense to me if I could. At the page two of the minutes of the assessor's meeting of October 21, at the very end,
it says, "A motion to adjourn at 248 was made by member Breahan. >> He wasn't here." And I think that should be me. >> That's right, Ed. Yep. >> Yeah. Sorry about that. >> Not a problem.
I'll uh make that change and uh reprint the minutes for your signatures later. >> Okay. >> And Ed, I had one question for you, sir. >> Yes. >> Hopefully your memor is better than mine. Did we ask you to serve as clerk? Because you're listed as clerk in these minutes.
>> I noticed that. And no, I was not asked to serve as clerk. I was told I wouldn't have that capacity. However, >> you know, we discussed this when putting the uh minutes together uh uh because we have to have a clerk sign the minutes. even though we didn't have a vote um
sort of reorganizing the board. So, um I can take that out if you'd like. It doesn't bother me, but uh >> when you say when you say sign, that can be an electronic signature. I take it. Well, if you want to um
uh reorganize and appoint the clerk at today's meeting, then I guess we can go ahead and uh you know, sign the minutes. I I can change the um prior minutes to reflect that
you weren't officially Clark. So, >> that's my recollection. >> Okay. Me, too. >> Yeah, that makes sense, Eddie. Um I don't think it would be breaking any sort of procedure if I was to sign them as the chair. I don't think for this one meeting then if if you're
willing to serve as the the clerk going forward I'll make the motion. >> Okay that's fine John >> if that's okay by you. >> It is >> yeah I'm sorry John. Yeah it would be I think uh remembering from Mr. Brean, it' be a motion to approve the minutes uh as
amended. And the amended would be we'll remove the clerk in front of Ed's name and we'll uh remove Mr. Breznahan's name on the second page. Right. Then I'll make the motion that we approve the minutes for 102120 uh with the two edits as discussed.
>> Second that motion. >> All those in favor say I. I. >> Chair says I. passes amended minutes. Um, Jacqueline's not here, so I'm also doing the minutes, so that's why it's a little bit of a There's no technical difficulty. It's
just a sort of professional delay. >> Well, Tom, you'll like it. I I had to drive over to the next town over to borrow a laptop so I could get on this meeting. Um but my it's actually my old laptop my in-laws had so it worked out fine. Uh but that's why I had to ask. It
was the one day where I have two kids in live classes. I got a wife in a live seminar. I said I got no computer. >> You know uh I don't know. Uh Cindy's listening somewhere, I suppose, but we can get you on the town iPad the waiting list if uh
helpful. >> I'll send a note to Cindy separately wondering if I can use my own iPad if it becomes an issue again. >> Okay. Um, it's just a one time thing. I hope >> you can absolutely use your own iPad. >> Okay. I had a feeling. Thanks, Cindy. >> No problem at all.
>> Sorry, you're in the woods. I'll leave you alone. >> Yeah. Wish. Okay. Uh agenda item four is uh approval of the October 2020 uh assessing department report. Um believe it or not, it's not
due yet. So uh we're actually ahead of the game for for the uh first time uh since uh the spring. So uh um if you want me to make any changes or add anything, I can do that prior to submission.
>> This looks just fine to me. I I have no edits myself, Tom. It looks great. >> Oh, thanks. Okay. >> I make a motion then that we approve the monthly report for the month of October uh 2020 as presented. >> Uh I will second the motion. I'm sorry.
All those in favor say I. >> I. >> Chair says I. That passes 2. >> Did we have a second on that, John? when >> Yeah, I I tripped up in my own language there, but I I did try to second it and then I realized I had to call the motion. >> That's okay.
All right, we're good then. [Applause] Um Jacqueline prepared the um posted excise motor vehicle and trailer excise abatement report for uh the month of October. Um she posted uh 25
abatements totaling $2,356.13. So uh a motion to uh approve the abatements and uh sign the report when we can uh uh get it to you gentlemen. So >> make a motion that we accept the motor
vehicle posted abatement report for the month of October as presented. 25 abatements and the amount of the uh to the total of the abatements was $2356.13. >> I will second the motion. All those in favor?
>> I chair says I. That's 2. Thank you. Uh the uh uh agenda item five are uh I I wanted the uh board of assessors before I submit them uh via the division
of local services gateway. Um, I just wanted to uh get your approval on a series of forms that sort of kick off the tax rate uh process uh with the people in Boston. Um, some
of these do not require uh board of assessors signatures, meaning I can um sign and upload them myself. uh but uh a couple of them do. But uh nonetheless, I always think it's a good idea to
uh well, it is very good idea to have the board of assessors see this stuff before I uh submit it. Um just uh so you remember um we're actually only about 3 weeks away from uh
December one uh which is our um property tax classification hearing. Um so uh things are uh are moving very quickly uh for us and uh um once we uh submit these
forms we'll be uh uh we'll uh have our values approved, have our stats approved, and have our growth approved. So we'll be in good shape for that December one meeting with the select board. Um
the first um form that I uh report that I have for you um is page number six. I uh number these for myself as much as for you guys so I don't lose my place, but it's got a number six at the top. It's the interim year adjustment report.
Um it's called the LA15, the local assessment LA15. And this form is actually derivative of the uh LA3 sales reports that I uploaded. Um, every year, um, all 351 cities and towns
of Massachusetts, so are required to upload sales, um, to the, um, uh, via the DLS gateway, um, so that the Bureau of Local Assessment can determine
and certify that cities and towns are valuing property at 100% of its full and fair cash valuation. on an annual basis. So, um, obviously I do the stats and the values ahead of time and I upload the sales and this
LA15 report is derivative of the sales that I uh upload. So, it sort of creates this report, excuse me. And, uh, it's kind of interesting. It's um uh it'll show uh our level of assessment
um for all classes of property. Um level of assessment uh the standard in Massachusetts is 100% of full and fair cash valuation. Um statistically that's reached with a median assessment to
sales price ratio of between uh 0.90 uh to 1.10. And uh within the classes the median ratios have to be within 5% of each other or I'm going to get a email or a call from DLS saying that uh we've got
further work to do on our valuations or our sales. So I did uh I did the upload and uh if you look uh if you uh look in the middle what total
number of sales um uh we had 110 uh single family sales only 89 of them were arms length. Um, our median assessment sales ratio is 92% of market value, which is just where we
were last year. And our coefficient of dispersion, our um error estimate is 6.41. And that's got to be below 10, excuse me, on uh single family homes. Um, that's sort of
the the error meas measure. Now, when I first started looking at the sales, we were 92% of market value on our sales. Um, that was because the market is appreciating in air and uh we've had to uh adjust uh valuations accordingly.
Um these are uh for fiscal year 2021 which is uh January 1, 2020 assessment date, which means we're looking at 2019 sales for um property classes that we
have a valid sample size. And we're actually going back into 2018 sales um to uh to work with uh um sales for classes of property that we don't have a 2% sample
or um have a handful of sales. Generally speaking, that's usually commercial, industrial, vacant land, apartments, that type of thing. So, so, uh, um, again, we went in, we were 92%. We,
uh, I I updated valuations for this year, and now we're at 96% on single family homes. >> We're at 96 95% on condominiums, 96% on two families, 95% on three families,
94 on uh, large apartment buildings. 97 on commercial and 93 on industrial. So, we're meeting all of our statistical requirements for uh for approval of our uh interim year update uh of assessed
valuations program. Um what's interesting is even with the uh the bump in uh residential values this year, if we look at 2020 sales through September um and compare them to our uh current
assessed valuation, our median assessment sales ratio is below 90 for uh single family homes. So um uh you know that's data is evidence that the the market uh residential market is uh
is strong and uh uh we're going to have to uh keep uh keep adjusting values to keep pace with prevailing market trends going forward. So um any questions?
>> Not a question Tom. I mean, it's interesting, but what caught my ear is back on single family homes, only 89 out of 110, I'm sorry, 21 out of 110 sales were not arms length. There's that many properties moving between family members.
>> Oh, yeah. It could be anything. It could be um that it was a private sale, that it was a cash sale, that it had non-citical financing, that it was a portion of an assessed unit, that it included other considerations,
>> but uh yeah, there's the foreclosures, uh bank sales, short sales, that type of thing are considered non-arms late transactions. >> And could you remind me uh the class 130 to 132? I know we didn't have any activity there. Um vacant land. Uh
residential vacant land. Yep. >> There's none of that left. >> Yeah, it's uh yeah, it's uh it's it's going fast. Like I say, it's I'm kind of shocked looking, you know, given the uh you know, the pandemic and uh you know, the uncertainty that the uh um the
residential market is uh so strong looking at 2020 sales. And if we did nothing this year, then we'd have to do an awful lot next year. So, uh, it's always prudent to, uh, make the adjustments, uh, as warranted. And, uh,
uh, a little bit every year is, uh, better than doing a lot at once. So, and don't forget also, uh, we're in FY21, but FY22 is going to be our, uh, revaluation year for the town of Air. So, the Bureau of Local Assessment is
going to come in and do their five-year audit of our uh assessing practices and procedures. So, they're going to take a uh a real long look at what we're doing, where we're at, and uh so uh just wanted to do a little bit this year
and then next year when we're going through the full revaluation, we'll do a more comprehensive uh update of valuation. So, in any event, this is this is loaded and ready to go. Um, I just uh
I just wanted to uh explain to the board what we've been doing and what's going on. Um, I don't know if you want to just uh me to explain each of these reports and do one motion to approve them all or you like to approve them one at a time.
Um, yeah, I do like the idea of explaining them individually, but I don't see any reason why we can't make a motion to approve all three at the same time. >> Okay. >> We don't even need to vote. I just think it's great for my education anyway to see this. >> Yeah, probably saw it in your online
training, John. The whole >> It's a lot of acronyms. >> Median uh uh the whole uh sales analysis process. It's uh it's hold for me. So, slow me down if uh you want me to uh dig uh deeper into
into uh some aspect of it. I don't mind at all. Uh on page seven, I I thought you might find this kind of interesting. Uh this is a this isn't a report that we prepare or submit. It's sort of derivative of the LA15 and the sales
report that we submit. But um not only does the uh Bureau of Local Assessment, uh check our sales and our ratios um full level and uniformity. They they also dig a little deeper and they do um
in the off years, in the non-certification years, they do a couple of different analyses. Excuse me. They do a sale price quartile report, which is kind of a fancy way of saying you sort uh all the sales you have um
uh lowest to highest or highest to lowest and then uh divide by four and and break out um break them into segments and then the uh so that the Bureau of Local Assessment can see that you're assessing uh the lower valued
properties. properties uh at the same uh level of market value that you're assessing the higherend properties. So there's no uh progressivity or regressivity um in the assessment process. Um
so if uh for example if one of these medians had been aboutund uh 1.04 04 I would have had to we would have flunked the test and I would have had to go back to work on the valuations to make sure everything uh everything is in order.
And and the second thing that they do is they uh they break the sales out um by quarters um during the you know months um so that uh they can see that you're assessing
properties that say sold in February at the same level of assessment that uh you might be valuing properties that sold in November. Now, this can be a little bit difficult if the market is hot and you, you know, if you're getting doubledigit
uh appreciation during the course of the year, it can be difficult to uh to get this to balance out. But, uh it it worked fine for us this year. Um and again, uh I don't think the Bureau of Local Assessment
um unless it's there's a real problem with the state quartile report. I I I don't think uh they probably consider something that was outside the acceptable acceptable
parameters as sort of an aberition. Um and that uh they tell you to keep an eye on it, but I don't think they would hold up our stats at all. But again, it's not a problem for us this year. It's just uh something that uh I thought you guys might be interested in seeing. Now, when
we do our revaluation for FY22, they're going to break our sales down by style, by age, um, by neighborhood, um, and, uh, probably quality of
construction. So, uh, revaluation years, they they they really drill down even further to make sure that you're valuing capes at the same level of market values as ranches versus colonials and old houses versus new houses. And, um,
um, again, that's usually for the five-year uh, certification, so we don't have to worry about that this year. So, any questions? >> No. Um on page eight, the uh this is a report that we uh prepare every year and
this is one that the board of assessors has to uh sign on the gateway. Um um so uh what you would need to do um after our meeting is over is is lo log on to the DLS gateway and uh
>> and uh go to the uh tax rate tab. Click it and you'll see this form LA4 which is the assessment classification report for fiscal year 21. This report basically summarizes uh the parcel count and
valuation information for all of our properties in town for this tax year. Um we have 1674 single family homes this year. Uh that's up 15 from last year. Um and uh we have
576 condominiums which is up from which is up 21 uh from uh last year. So we're seeing a lot of new residential construction going on in town. Um
and uh it's reflected in our uh in this report. Um bottom line is um including personal property, we're going to bill uh 3,399 accounts
totaling 1 bill351,36,450. [Music] So wow, this is just sort of a snapshot of where we are valuewise for FY22. and the board of assessors again they have to sign this on the DLS gateway so
I can uh if you guys get stuck I don't mind helping you out with that but uh this is sort of the other than the sales this is sort of the foundation for everything that uh that follows um and the bottom line is uh the total taxable
valuation of the town's about 4% higher than it was in fiscal year 2020 so and that's growth and market adjustments So, we're we're heading in the right direction valuewise. Any questions?
No. Okay. Thank you. [Applause] Down to the last report. Uh page nine. This is the LA13 tax base uh levy growth report. This is
the report that um the uh DLS uses to certify a growth valuation. That's um new valuation resulting from building permit activity,
um new lots, um utility valuation, new personal property accounts, uh additions, alterations, uh exempt properties going back on the tax role, uh things of that nature. Um this is sort of a one-page report that
summarizes uh the growth valuation in each class of property. this year. Uh if you sum up the um tax levy dollars um available uh uh as a result of uh new growth
valuation were up to $501,241. Um last year we were $647,256. So we're still uh a little bit less than last year, but it's still, you know, really really strong. I I I've been here a while. I remember when I I started, Mr. Canalio probably remember too. We
used to get uh really low growth numbers every year and uh and uh you know, I'm going to say the last five, six, seven years those numbers have been uh been pretty strong. Um this is a form that I put together. Uh
you can look at it on Gateway. Uh there are also um um backup uh reports and spreadsheets that are uploaded and appended to this form that the uh DLS will um look at to sort of audit these numbers. All the
backup is on there too. Um, I believe I can submit this on my own signature, but uh I think uh uh I think it's good if the board can get on there and just click your name and uh uh mine's not going to disappear. We'll
just and and they'll call me if there's a problem obviously, but uh I think it's a good idea for the board to uh to sign the growth report. Um any questions? I'm still just amazed by that $1 billion
number. >> Yeah, it's um yeah, I'm just like I say, it's uh I'm just blown away by the uh sales that I was seeing in 2020, you know. Um which is which is good, you know. It's it's uh
it's always better to have a strong real estate market than uh than one that's flat or uh declining. And uh um but uh flip side is it's you really got to pay attention and uh put the work into uh
get the values right every year. So that's the last gate gateway report I have for you gentlemen. So if you want to do your motion to approve the reports as presented that be fine with me. Um, you want me to do that, John?
>> Yes, please. >> I make a motion that we accept. What are there? Four, Tom. >> Oh, let me thank Eddie. Get back. >> Yeah, I've got uh in adjustments.
>> One. Yeah, six is uh one, two. It's really just three reports because uh the quartile reports just kind of derivative of the other ones. So, but yeah, why don't you just do uh why don't you just do the four reports that I presented to the board? That's fine.
>> I move that we accept the four ports four ports. Four reports presented by Tom Hogan as written. >> Uh I will second that motion, Eddie. Uh, all those in favor say >> I.
>> Chair says I to approve the DLS gateway reports. >> Thank you. >> Um, so I'm what I'm hoping to do is uh tomorrow's Veterans Day, so we're going to be closed, but uh Thursday when I
come in, I'd like to be able to submit all this stuff. Um, so if you guys can uh find some time to just uh get on there and click a box uh >> within the next couple of days, that'd be great. >> Could you go over the way one more time,
Thomas, as to how we get there to the gateway to do this checking? >> Eddie, I am going to give you a personal phone call. Um, >> ah, that'll >> later on. Yeah, you get the you get the uh we'll uh I'll I'll give you a call uh when I get in on um
>> that's fine. >> Thursday and yeah, I'll walk you through it. It's just easy to do it that way. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Um, I don't have any items of old business. If there's uh anything the board would like to revisit.
>> Uh, no. I only item I had I wanted to talk about was Robert's memo, which would be under new, of course. >> Yeah. Yeah, we just got that uh yesterday. So, um, that's a that's a new business item. Um, so No old business.
>> Has the mill transaction totally been taken care of by now? >> Uh yeah. Yeah, we're in the process of uh taking care of that, Ed. So >> Okay. Okay. >> I I've got a I've got a phone call to uh opposing council. Uh
>> Okay, very good. >> Y >> um uh new business. Um, we got the uh FY22 budget directive from the town manager's office uh yesterday and uh fortunately in time to include in your packets.
Um, I've uh ba basically you can correct me if I'm wrong, John, but I think it's basically level funded budget unless and then uh no uh increases in discretionary uh spending and he goes into obviously the
uh the uncertainty uh and uh resulting from the uh the COVID uh crisis, but Um it uh I I think it's something you know it's it's something that that
we can work within these parameters. Um the only issue we have uh as assessors is FY22 being a five-year revaluation year. So, it's kind of uh it's kind of uh
might be a little tough to get more done with less contractually. Um but uh I'm still uh I've actually started the uh process of uh um putting together our budget with a
couple of issues in mind. Um but uh that I'll I'll discuss with you later on when I I have more time. But uh um I I think there's a pretty good um
there's a pretty good uh uh uh chance or or there's a path for us to sort of uh uh get a be able to get a reevaluation done in 22 and and not only that kind of set up the department going forward
after that uh with sort of a framework that'll uh >> uh in place that'll uh uh keep uh uh allow us to meet our annual requirements relative to uh property tax uh
>> property taxation and approvals from the uh Bureau of Local Assessment. Uh, one thing that uh I'll bring up to you uh to the board uh um that uh may impact our
FY22 budget. My daughter, sorry. um is um um if you remember we talked about the uh Bureau of Local Assessment um as a result of several court cases
over the years has a um new approach to um has actually mandated uh a new approach to the valuation of utility property and it involves you know the netbook valuation which was
essentially uh every year the utilities would mail you a a number and that number was considered market valuation and cities and towns would would bill it. It was nice and easy. Um the the new approach is sort of a two-headed
approach. Um it involves netbook valuation, but it also involves a uh a replacement cost approach which is generally higher than the netbook valuation. and uh they combine the two and they they come up with a number that
will result in higher utility valuations than the previous method. The problem is is that uh we have four um properties in there um that would require this kind of approach and it's something that cities and towns are
going to have to uh pay for. Um it's not something that can be done internally. it's specialized valuation and uh that's going to have to be sort of absorbed somehow into our budget for next year. Um but other than that I I
think uh I think we can uh I think we can meet the um town manager's uh requirement of uh being as close to last year's budget as possible. So do the
best we can. Anyway, um when I finish my initial um >> my my initial work formulating the budget uh and and just which is basically you know what what are our fixed costs,
what are our new costs for 22 and uh you know what's our plan for the FY22 revaluation and sort of >> get sort of a plan together going forward. then uh I'll uh sit down with the board and get your input on it and
uh you know and I and I I'll probably talk to the town manager as part of the process too uh obviously just to let him know what we're facing in the uh the coming year but u we only got this uh yesterday so uh um I have done quite a
bit of work on it already because uh believe it or not I have a a insidider view here I know the budget's coming so I a little bit of a head start on it. So, uh um but uh yeah, I'm anxious to talk to the board about it. So, just give me a little bit of time and uh
>> we'll be able to uh have something for you soon. >> Do you have any thoughts on the U FY22 budget? >> Well, my first thought was the five-year assessment. You already addressed that. Um and then uh contractually, I don't know if Jacqueline's in the union or
not, but I'll let the town manager address that. >> Yeah. Yeah. Anything I do doesn't uh doesn't include any uh adjustments in salaries. It's, you know, that's all >> contrast. I recall from my fincome days, there's about a dozen line items. So, I don't think it'd be too bad.
>> No, no. And there's a lot of fixed costs. It's uh it's it's mapping. It's it's software support contracts. It's um it's valuation um assistance you know commercial industrial cyclical
inspections residential cyclical inspections I mean what's happened to us and I don't think air is alone is uh well we're alone in that we were doing the data conversion so during that process we were unable to um do our
usual cyclical inspection process uh because we're we're auditing data and data out. We didn't really need to be changing data out while, you know, we're trying to reconcile the uh conversion process and we've turned money back the last few budgets that we haven't been able to do.
And of course, this year with co obviously it's um it's put a a real damper in the inspection process. So, um the problem with that type of thing is that the requirement doesn't go away. It just sort of gets uh pushed down the road a little bit. And that's something
I'm going to need to look at just to to make sure that uh we've done enough over the last 10 years to uh satisfy the Bureau of Local Assessment in terms of the cyclical reinspection. >> Anyway, kind of a lot to do.
>> Yeah, it's just an unfortunate year that we have that CPC increase from 1 to 3%. >> Yeah, that's going to go on the the tax bill also. Yeah. >> Yeah. And the problem with that is I might as well get get this out there. Why wait till December one? Um we weren't allowed
to uh well Bureau of Local Assessment said we couldn't put the increase on the preliminary bills for CPA. So all of the increase in the CPA is going to go over the last two bills. So it's not going to be sort of an even
aotment for the CPA uh increase over the four quarters. Next year it will be, but uh this year it's going to be uh people will pay more CPA on the third and fourth quarter bills than they will on the first and second quarter bills.
>> Uh that is the only item of new business that I have for the board. Uh guys, any anything you want to talk about? >> No. Uh for me it was just the budget uh that caught my eye when you sent it over. How about you Eddie? >> Um no no I don't have nothing to bring
up. >> Okay. Uh well with that then I'll take a motion journ if there's nothing further. >> Um I make a motion. Well before we adjourn, are we going to set some sort of a next meeting date? >> Um
>> yeah. What we usually do, Mr. chairman um is um >> I know everything's happening fast, but when I prepare the uh classification documents, >> it's kind of uh nice to uh have the board um
review them, walk through with the board. Uh it's good for me, it's good for the board. But uh and uh and uh I don't know if we do that uh I I suppose I don't know if we do that with a meeting
prior to >> December one the December one meeting like uh an hour before or uh or have probably makes more sense just to find an hour somewhere along the way and uh do another meeting and uh and and walk
through it with uh with you gentlemen. But uh yeah, Ed, you're right. We probably need to have a meeting before classification. And this will be my first Zoom classification, so I'm not even sure um how that's going to uh going to work. But uh
>> um yeah, you know, the uh the PowerPoint, John the Grid, and all that stuff. So, we can we can walk through that, too. Well, it would probably make more sense to do it a different day than December 1st then if, god forbid, we find an error, we need time to fix it. >> Exactly. >> Yeah. Yeah. That Yeah. Yeah. That
exactly right. Yeah. Yeah. And Yeah. I don't know. Backtoback Zooms. I don't know. It might be a recipe for disaster for me. So, might make more sense to uh doing a more uh >> we have more time to sit and think and uh >> think how you're developing your skill
though, Tom. >> I don't know about that. So I I guess uh our next meeting is uh to be determined. >> Okay. >> I'm very flexible. >> As am I. Not traveling or anything as far as I know it.
>> Okay. >> In that case, I make a motion that we adjourn. >> I will second the motion at 243. All those in favor say I. >> I. >> The chair says I. We are adjourned.