DEPARTMENT BUDGET PRESENTATIONS

Transcript (~1 min @ 11:40)

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▶ 11:39 Devin Romanul: All right, the motion passes. That will move on to full council. Thank you so much. And moving on to our departmental budget presentation portion of our programming. Up first, Department 141, the Assessor's Office.

▶ 11:51 Speaker 3: Okay. So next I'm presenting the fiscal year 2027 budget for the assessor's department, and I realize that you have received my memo, but I wanted to provide an overview of the department and its functions. So the assessor's office is currently staffed full-time by myself, an assistant assessor, and a senior clerk. We also have a GIS manager for five hours weekly, and we have a property tax work-off employee. So the core function of the office is the fair and equitable valuation of all taxable property in the city in accordance with mass law and Department of Revenue guidelines. Throughout the year, we conduct market analysis, sales review, data collection projects, and property inspections to help us determine property values and ensure that assessments are applied consistently across all property classes. So the department is responsible for maintaining accurate records for all real and personal property in the city. This includes tracking property ownership, reviewing building permits, conducting inspections, updating records to reflect new construction, renovations, additions, demolitions, and other property changes. So one of our top priorities is providing transparent, responsive customer service and helping people understand that assessment process, property values, exemptions, abatements, and other programs that are available to them.