Tax Reclassification Hearing for Williamstown Board of Selectmen and Fire District

Post date: Sep 15, 2017 2:56:52 PM

This is a joint meeting with the Williamstown Fire District Prudential Committee.

This rehearing and revote is based on the unusual way that the Department of Revenue has opted to have towns record the value of any structured tax agreements for solar property. In a "traditional" tax agreement (commonly a Payment in Lieu of Taxes), the property is not taxed through the property tax system and a separate bill is generated by the Treasurer's Office for the agreed upon amount. This is the recorded as a separate revenue of the Town in the General Fund. This is the first year that we are receiving revenues from the two solar installations on Simonds Road (at the Book Depository and the Landfill). All of our tax calculation and assessed value submissions to Department of Revenue recorded the Structured Tax Agreement revenue in a clear traceable place like any other non-solar equivalent. DOR has determined that their preferred way for this to be done is a significantly more confusing, less transparent way. Practically, what happens is that an assessed value has to be created that is added to the overall tax base. We create an artificial parcel overlaid on the real tax parcel and this artificial parcel has a value of the solar installation calculated for it. While each of the tax agreements has a value for the solar installation and a value percentage adjustment over the term of the agreement (along with an estimated tax rate), we are now compelled to calculate backward an implied value based on the amount of revenue we know we are going to receive. We then attach this artificial value onto the artificial overlay parcel so it can be added into the overall valuation of the Town, thus yielding a "tax bill" for the artificial property for the collection of the amount agreed in the tax agreement. This poses interesting challenges for adjustments/abatements in future years, but know that our staff has contemplated those future complex paperwork scenarios now too.

All of this has the upshot of changing the total valuation of the Town upon which a tax rate for both the Town and the Fire District is calculated.

Both Board's voted on at their classification hearings with the information that the tax base was $966,137,940. We have now adjusted that with the artificial calculated value of the solar parcels, adding $2,371,000 such that the new total taxable value now stands at: $968,508,940.

It is on this new value that both bodies need to reaffirm their votes with the following motion:

On the matter of classifying the tax rate:

To vote a residential factor of “1”

On the matter of an open space discount:

Not to grant an open space discount

On the matter of a residential exemption:

Not to grant a residential exemption

On the matter of a small commercial exemption:

Not to grant a small business exemption

And to authorize William Barkin, Principal Assessor, to electronically transmit this vote to the Department of Revenue.