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 Town Of NewburyOffice of The Board of Assessors Newbury, MA. 01951-4799 (978) 465-0862 x308 Fax: (978) 465-3064 |
MEETING MINUTES
Meeting: Joint Meeting between the Board of Selectmen, Planning Board, & Board of Assessors
Date: October 2, 2012
Purpose: An explanation from the Board of Assessors on the types of commercial uses that generate greater tax revenue for the Town of Newbury.
Attendee:
Budd Kelley, Chair of Board of Assessors Joe Story, Chair of Board of Selectmen
Peter Murphy, Board of Assessors David Mountain, Board of Selectmen
Carrie Kevlle, Administrative Assessor Geoffrey Walker, Board of Selectmen
Ginny Thompson, Board of Assessor’s Consultant Mike Bulgaris, Board of Selectmen
Kathleen Pearson, Chair of Planning Board Kathy Sirois, Board of Selectmen Administrator
John O’Connell, Planning Board Frank Remley, Chair of Finance Committee
Martha Taylor, Planning Director Tracy Blais, Town Administrator
Minutes:
The meeting was called to order at 6:03 p.m.
K. Pearson explained that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss economic development and to have the Board of Assessors explain the types of commercial uses that generate greater tax revenue for the Town of Newbury. The Planning Board will be recommending changes to the Table of Use Regulations in the Zoning By-Law at the Spring Annual Town Meeting and she would like to get a consensus from the boards on the types of commercial uses that should be encouraged.
B. Kelley stated that residential property forms 96-97% of Newbury’s tax base and that the town taxes all properties at a single rate. The benefit on the residential properties of a tiered tax rate would be minuscule in relation to the burden it would place on our business and industrial properties. In the future the Board of Assessors will continue to recommend a single tier tax rate. In his opinion, it does not make sense to increase the tax rate for commercial properties since we are trying to encourage economic growth.
B. Kelley distributed counter listing detail reports for all property with mixed use, industrial and commercial land use codes. The reports identify the properties in these land use codes and give land area and total value.
K. Pearson asked the Board of Assessors to confirm that a commercial use such as storage containers results in less tax revenue than something like professional offices. G. Thompson stated that the market determines what a property can be valued at. If the business is incorporated the town would make more revenue off the building than the personal property because corporations are only taxed on machinery; fixtures, furnishings, etc., owned by unincorporated businesses are taxed as personal property
It was noted that in Newburyport the Industrial Park generates much less revenue than the shopping plaza and the downtown stores. In Rowley, the shopping plaza and industrial properties on Route 1 have been very successful, largely due to the fact that they have municipal water. Newburyport has both water and sewer. G. Thompson noted that Newbury doesn’t have the area or infrastructure for an industrial park.
B. Kelley referenced the proposed Village at Little River development on Route 1, which failed to get the required 2/3 majority approval at a special town meeting in 2008. G. Thompson said that in her opinion the most viable option on Route 1 would be a small shopping center with an anchor store such as Hannaford’s. She added that there are benefits for a development to be close to transportation.
Following up on the comments regarding the importance of a public water supply to the businesses in Rowley and Newburyport which generate the most revenue, K. Pearson stated that as part of her graduate degree in civil engineering at Northeastern University that she will be working on a project for the Town of Newbury to evaluate the Town’s ability to provide a public water supply to encourage economic development in the Town’s largest commercial and industrial district (B&LI) along Route-1. K. Pearson, J. Story, and Tracy Blais, Town Administrator, are scheduled to meet with the Newburyport Water Commission next month.
The group discussed the types of commercial development that should be encouraged in the B&LI and other areas of town. The following ideas were discussed:
· Developing a shopping plaza in the B&LI.
· Expanding the commercial district along Scotland Rd and the area on Scotland Rd. across from Highfield Rd.Expanding the Commercial Highway District on Central St by Rt-95 down to Larkin Rd. and perhaps rezoning it as light industrial. If water cannot be provided in the BL&I, it seems that this area would be a good one to focus on for development.
The meeting ended at 6:50 p.m.
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