HomeMy Public PortalAbout20110830 - Board of Assessors - Meeting MinutesTown of Hopkinton
Board of Assessors
Minutes of Meeting held August 30, 2011
A regular meeting of the Board of Assessors was held on August 30, 2011 in Conference
Room 107 at the Town Hall. A Notice of Meeting was duly posted. The meeting
commenced at 5:20 p.m. In attendance were John Duffy, Mary Jo Lafreniere and John
Palmer, all the members of the Board. Also in attendance was Robert Bushway,
Principal Assessor. John Duffy presided and John Palmer kept the minutes.
The Board approved the minutes of the meeting held on August 10, 2011.
The Board reviewed and signed a bills payable warrant in the amount of $153.60.
The Board reviewed and signed the CPA Surcharge Report for Fiscal Year Ending June
30, 2011. A net CPA surcharge of $697,340.06 was reported.
Messrs. Bushway and Palmer reported on the “all hands” meeting held on August 16,
2011.
Mr. Bushway presented a proposed timeline for completion of the various tax
recapitulation forms needed in order to set the Fiscal Year 2012 tax rate.
Mr. Palmer briefly explained the reason for the recent decisions of the Appellate Tax
Board to hear appeals concerning central valuations of personal property of wireless
telecommunication companies for certain prior years.
The Board again discussed the proposed settlement received from New Cingular Wireless
(“NCW”) relating to FYs 2004-2011. Under the proposal, Hopkinton would abate
approximately $11,800 in back taxes. NCW agreed to waive interest on the abatement.
Mr. Bushway reported that Southwestern Bell Mobile, an affiliate of NCW, owed the
Town approximately $22,300 in back taxes. NCW requested that the Town not charge
interest on the back taxes due to it. Mr. Bushway and Dr. Duffy reported that Maureen
Dwinnell, Treasurer/Tax Collector, was unwilling to waive interest on the taxes due to
the Town. After discussion, the Board unanimously agreed that an appropriate course of
action would be that each party should pay the statutory amount of interest due on the
amount of taxes owed to the other party. Mr. Bushway was instructed to communicate
this decision to NCW.
Mr. Bushway reported that the Town Manager has requested that he be involved in
discussions with Stryker Biotech concerning a possible violation of the terms of their
existing Tax Incentive Financing (“TIF”) agreement.
The next meeting was scheduled for September 13, 2011 at 5:15 p.m.
The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
John Palmer, Clerk