Board of Assessors

CITYOFGARDNER OFFICE OF THE BOARD OF ASSESSORS 95 Pleasant Street City Hall, Room 223, Gardner MA 01440-2688 Diane Lanney, MAA, City Assessor Tel: 978-630-4004 dlanney@gardner-ma.gov Fax: 978-630-4080 MEETING MINUTES Date: April 4, 2013 at 9:30 a.m. In Attendance: Diane Lanney, Chair; Paulette Burns and Charles Leblanc Meeting convened at 10:35 a.m. Motion: Mrs. Burns 2nd: Mrs. Lanney To approve Minutes of December 27, 2012. Charles Leblanc abstains All in favor. Motion: Mrs. Burns 2nd: Mrs. Lanney To open Open Session, and seeing no parties present, close Open Session at 10:37 a.m. All in favor. Status Report: Ms. Lanney provided verbal status report from December 27, 2012 through today: Mrs. Lanney stated on February 27, 2013 she was notified by the Mayor with Personnel Director, Debra Pond, present that he intended to change the structure of the Assessors’ Office by outsourcing the City Assessor position. She reminded the BOA of her phone call to each of them, individually, that same day. Mrs. Lanney stated that since that time she has had no communication with the Mayor besides one short text. He has not initiated any conversation with her in anyway, in fact he has not even acknowledged her when seen. Mrs. Lanney stated that she has met with the Personnel Director, to simply go over what her rights are as a City employee, which can be discussed in Executive Session if the BOA should choose to do so. Mrs. Lanney was told by the Personnel Director that her last day working for the City of Gardner will be June 28, 2013, however, her re-appointment date is actually October 18, 2013. There are some ordinances that deal with that. City Council has also addressed this proposed change, some members believe it is a reorganization of the Department and, therefore, believe it is City Council per City Charter that would have to approve such a change. The Mayor, however, believes, based on what Mrs. BOA Meeting Page 1 of 6 Lanney has read in the newspaper and acquired from City Council meetings, does not believe it is a reorganization. A Finance Committee recommendation referred to and approved by the City Council, requested the Mayor come before the City Council to answer three specific questions. The issue has now been referred to City Council, Committee as a Whole, Informal. However, no date has been set. Mr. Leblanc asked Mrs. Lanney to inform the Board when she is notified of the date of the Informal Committee as a Whole Meeting. Mrs. Burns asked if the BOA is allowed to attend the meeting, both Mr. Leblanc and Mrs. Lanney responded yes. Mrs. Lanney stated that she has only attended one meeting since February 27, 2013 for a different assessing matter on the Finance Committee’s agenda, and has purposely not attended because she believes it is what is right for the City of Gardner, whether or not outsourcing for the Department is the right thing. However, Mrs. Lanney stated that because it is the Assessors’ Office, we play an important part in helping City Council to make the right decision as they need to understand what the office does, what the legal ramifications are, what the DOR Guidelines are for an Assessor and the BOA. For example, the International Association for Assessor Offices (IAAO) recommends one full time person for every 2,000 parcels. Based on that recommendation, Gardner should have 3.83 full time people. When you only have two, and now 2.3, there is no possible way that the office could function properly without some contractual services. In fact, the justification to hire the part time clerk was to allow us to continue to pull more work in house. By pulling the work in, house not only do you get more oversight, it also reduces costs in most cases. We have reduced our costs significantly for the contractual services that we do receive since Mrs. Lanney has come on board. Unfortunately, due to the inadequate data conditions outlined by DOR and found by Mrs. Lanney, additional services such as the Building Permit catch up and PP Full Measure and List, have been required. Mrs. Burns asked Mrs. Lanney if she would be willing to attend the Committee as a Whole Council meeting. Mrs. Lanney said she is planning to attend. The BOA believes that Mrs. Lanney should absolutely attend the meeting due to the information that she has, working in the office every day. Mrs. Lanney stated that there are three or four City Council members that have already come to her several times asking questions and requesting information. Mrs. Lanney stated that they are trying to educate themselves in order to make an informed decision. Mrs. Lanney stated again to the BOA, that she will let them know as soon as she hears the date set for the meeting. In regards to the outsourcing of the Assessors’ Office, Mrs. Lanney stated that when this announcement came out in the newspaper, it was covered by the Worcester Telegram and the Gardner News, it has shaken many in the profession; that a large community thinks that the Assessors’ Office is so unimportant to the structure of the Community and it’s Revenue base that it could be outsourced in its entirety. The Worcester County Assessors Association (WCAA) has taken this as an Executive Board agenda item and will be moving forward; talking to the DOR and working with the Massachusetts Association of Assessors (MAAO) to determine the steps necessary educate these decision makers who, to date, have mostly excluded their existing Assessors from such decisions. At the MAAO Executive Board meeting a couple of weeks ago, it was a contentious but productive discussion. There was present a full time Principal Assessor that used to work for the proposed company, who left that company on amicable terms, whose opinion is that he does not believe that they can possibly do what is expected by the Assessors’ Page 2 of 6 Office by law for the City, maybe a smaller community, but not in a community as large as Gardner. The WCAA is meeting next Wednesday and Mrs. Lanney will ask them for the MAAO meeting minutes. The MAAO is doing a Legislatives Day on the Hill and as the first agenda item, they are asking Assessors to meet with their Legislators and provide an overview of how important the Assessors’ Office is, and specifically what that role is in the financial well being of Local Government and how changes in Legislation can effect that local level. That Assessor’s have information that can be valuable in making those decisions. It has taken MAAO only two weeks to begin to implement an education program as a result of Gardner’s proposed change. Mrs. Lanney expects DOR will way in at some point. Mrs. Lanney called our DOR local representative to make sure we had nothing outstanding for our FY’14 Interim that we need to address and he told Mrs. Lanney that the DOR Local Field Representatives are shocked by this move and do not believe it is a good idea. Whether or not the DOR will formally communicate this remains to be seen. The DOR does support regionalization, especially inspectional services, and outsourcing necessary to fulfill their guidelines especially in small communities where there is no full-time Principal Assessor. They recognize budget cuts have disadvantaged Assessors’ Offices in respect to full In-house operations. Mrs. Burns asked if the company, RRG, will have a representative come in to the Committee of the Whole Council meeting. Mrs. Lanney stated she does not know. Mr. Leblanc asked if Mrs. Lanney has the Local Field Representatives comment in black and white, Mrs. Lanney will email him. Mr. Leblanc suggested that would be a good idea. Mrs. Lanney stated that she has been an Assessor for 12 years, she knows her job, she knows the law, and she knows what she is doing. There are only 351 Assessors in this state and they all talk to each other. There are people that have been Assessors, most are not complacent Assessors, but good Assessors. What these people have to say is important not only to Gardner but to every community, to the profession. The tight-knit make-up of the organizations of Assessors (WCAA & MAAO) is invaluable, not only to the Assessors but to the communities. For example, when Gardner was dealing with Solar, Mrs. Lanney called the Assessor in Shrewsbury, who knows anything and everything about Solar since she had not dealt with Solar for almost 2 years. Mrs. Lanney does not believe that the Mayor and many others believe this, it does not seem to be important to some here in Gardner. Mrs. Burns stated she does not recommend that assumptions be made right now as this is the first time that this has happened and Gardner has always had a full-time Assessor. She stated that it is incumbent of the entire BOA to let the powers that be know what exactly is happening. Mrs. Lanney stated it is primarily the Mayor she is talking about. She does not believe he fully understands the Full consequences of the decision he is making. He is not an Assessor, and has not spoken with any of the BOA. Mrs. Lanney stated Gardner may end up in the same exact position as Marlboro: If she leaves June 28, 2013, or the Mayor does not reappoint her October 18, 2013, chances of Gardner getting a full-time qualified Assessor, if he remains Mayor, will be slim to nothing. No one will take the position thinking they will be treated in the same manner. Mr. Leblanc stated his concern is that all of sudden this thing has sprung and everyone is taken aback. It is a tremendous amount of reorganization and it is going to effect the City negatively, Page 3 of 6 in his opinion. Mr. Leblanc is concerned by the fact that it was not presented with facts and information and background information and reasoning to why this reorganization needed to take place. It came like a bolt out of the blue, and he wants more background information. He is on the Board and this was just thrown on his lap like a layman. Mrs. Burns agreed. Mr. Leblanc stated he has no idea what kind of organization this company is, the kind of references they have. No information has been provided as far as their accomplishments. Has the Mayor looked at other companies? Mrs. Lanney stated that she made it clear to the Personnel Director, who stated to Mrs. Lanney that she knew nothing about it, that that fact alone was troublesome, considering she is the Personnel Director, has all job descriptions for the City’s employees, and she knows nothing of what is going on regarding the changes to the Assessors’ Office. Mrs. Lanney stated it is also troublesome that the BOA was not involved in anyway. She believes it to be totally unprofessional and disrespectful that the entire BOA was bypassed. This BOA, is legally what runs this office, whether we are appointed by the Mayor or not, we have a higher authority, DOR and the law. Regardless of what City Council or the Mayor thinks, our responsibility is to report to the DOR and we are personally liable. The oath that we take is required by the DOR, no other employees are required to do so. Taking an oath means something; Mrs. Lanney does not believe that people understand that the oath we take of this office is different from everybody else’s. GIS: Mrs. Lanney stated that things are status quo. She is having some issues with Engineering getting some items accomplished. A meeting of Mrs. Lanney, the City Engineer, his new GIS person, and the IT Director determined that the project is currently stalled and that the IT Director needs to take a hold of it. Goals and objectives were established to get the project moving in the right direction. Mrs. Lanney attended a Mass GIS meeting in Auburn regarding Master addressing, and E911 system enhancements/changes specifically to support MassGIS requirements. Contracts: Mrs. Lanney stated that all of the Building Permits through December 2012 should be completed within the next month or so, and the January through April 2013 Building Permits should hopefully be done before the Preliminary Tax Bills are issued July 1, 2013. The RE & PP Interim Contracts each had $4,000 appropriated to begin our Interim, in FY’13 and we have almost exhausted the Personal Property. Datastat, has done a Lions Share of work and Mrs. Lanney believes of all commercial and Industrial filings review and data entry, with the exception of centrally valued utilities, will be completed with the current $4,000 FY’13 appropriation. As far as the RE, Mrs. Lanney has had a conversation with Vision, because we are only an Interim and did so much work last year that we only have the DOR base standards. Mrs. Lanney is hoping to do most of that herself. Mrs. Lanney wants to ensure that DOR is satisfied. Because we did such a good job at addressing their recommendations when we submitted our Interim for Certification last year, there wasn’t one single DOR change requested of us. In fact, all FY’15 DOR Revaluation Recommendations have been removed. Therefore, we have just a regular Page 4 of 6 Interim, which should cost us maybe $4,000 - $6,000. Vision will come in one day and review reports. Mrs. Lanney will be giving Vision a call at the end of the week to get on their schedule. Trailer Parks: Mrs. Lanney relayed to the BOA a discussion that was initiated by the BOH Director, Bernie Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan inquired as to why Trailer Park mobile home owners were not currently receiving tax bills. He stated the in 2008, he had questioned then City Assessor, Dennis Comee, and the Mayor and sent emails which included his analysis of manufacture’s and values and a news paper article from the Boston Globe outlining the taxability of mobile homes. Mrs. Lanney told Mr. Sullivan that he is correct, these are taxable. Mrs. Lanney outlined the State Statute that mobile homes located in a park-type location where they do not own the land are subject to the same assessment as a mobile home located on same owner land as the mobile home. Why they have not been assessed, is anyone’s guess. She outlined to Mr. Sullivan that it is her plan to begin assessing these units beginning FY’14. Mrs. Lanney told the BOA that her plan includes a letter to all mobile home owners prior to them receiving a FY’14 Preliminary tax bill. The FY’14 Budget reflects the mailing cost. She has also begun work with the City Engineer to ensure correct street addressing and GIS location of all mobile home units in Trailer Parks. Mr. Leblanc expressed that these units have never been assessed and that he expects there will be many questions, and concerns. As a current mobile home owner in Heritage Park, he can participate closely in making sure owners have the correct information. Old Business: None New Business: None Next Meeting: Not set, as needed Motion: Mr. Leblanc 2nd: Mrs. Burns To Enter into Executive Session to approve Executive Meeting Minutes, with the intention to return to Open Session to adjourn. Executive Meeting Minutes separate. All in Favor. Page 5 of 6 Return from Executive Session. Motion: Mrs. Lanney 2nd: Mrs. Burns To adjourn meeting at 12:12 p.m. All in favor. Respectfully Submitted by: Diane E. Lanney Page 6 of 6