Following the actions of the Common Council, the Everett Board of Aldermen approved the 20% exemption for owner occupied taxpayers at Monday evening’s meeting.
Assessor William Hart appeared before the aldermen to answer any questions that they might have about the measure.
Alderman Michael Marchese questioned whether the law of diminishing returns comes into play for the taxpayer when the proposed exemption could cost the taxpayer more than if it had never been enacted.
“When offering any exemption, someone else has to pay for it,” Hart told the Aldermen.
Hart also mentioned that for some owners there would be very little benefit and possibly a negative return as the higher residential tax rate could cost the homeowner more. However, most of the 5,579 taxpayers who would qualify for this program, there is still a savings.
Last year, the exemption was $66,000 that saved the average taxpayer from $200 to $500.
This year Hart estimated that the exemption will be about $53,000-$54,000 due to the lower real estate prices.
Relief for the small
Commercial taxpayer
The Aldermen voted to support Massachusetts House Bill 2675 that will provide tax relief for small businesses. According to the bill, business owners to qualify must have the assessed property valued under $1,000,000 and the business must employ no more than 50 people. The resolution was sent to the Common Council for their approval.
Meeting on October 7
The Aldermen voted to support the recommendation to make a series of one-way streets around Whittier Street.
More than 120 residents signed a petition to change several streets in the neighborhood to one-ways to cut down on the speeding.
The area in question is on Ferry Street near the Malden line.
A meeting on the issue will be held on Wednesday, Oct 7 at Whittier Place starting at 9 a.m.
Copiers cost a
Lot of money
The Aldermen approved the request to add an additional $20,680 to the copier budget. Several city officials told the Board that they needed the additional monies for the maintenance of the copiers.
The new contract includes a total of ten copy machines as well as the supplies of toner and staples and the maintenance of these machines. In the current budget, $15,000 was originally approved.
Beautification grants
The Aldermen voted to accept several beautification grants from local businesses.
At its last meeting, the acceptance of these grants was withheld because Aldermen Robert Van Campen questioned why these dollars are going into maintaining Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR)land.
“Beautification Committee is a worthwhile project,” Van Campen said, “but most of the money should be for city projects not DCR.”
However, Mayor Carlo DeMaria appeared before the Aldermen and said that he is presently in negotiation with DCR officials about having them reimburse the city for the upkeep of their rotaries.
This reimbursement by DCR already happens in Melrose and Medford for the rotaries that DCR owns.
Some of the rotaries that the DCR owns, but Everett is now maintaining, include the large rotaries at the Gateway Mall and the end of Broadway over Route 16.