Public Comment

Transcript (~8 min @ 14:53)

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▶ 14:52 Robb Stewart: Point of order. We need to take a roll call vote because of the,

▶ 14:57 Speaker 8: Sorry. It's

▶ 14:58 Speaker 3: Okay.

▶ 15:00 Speaker 8: I'm sorry. Can you take a roll call?

▶ 15:02 Robb Stewart: Vote. Mr. Chair, I'll make a motion to open the floor for public comment. Second.

▶ 15:07 Mark Garipay: Thank you. Can you, um, yes. Take the role please. Yep. Apologize. First time doing a remote meeting. Thank you, Devin. Okay. Councilor Romanul.

▶ 15:16 Speaker 3: I apologize. Sorry. Only

▶ 15:18 Speaker 8: Joking. It's probably warmer where you are.

▶ 15:21 Speaker 1: Councilor Jamal Ledine. Here. Councilor Occhio. Councilor Hamilton. Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty. Yes. President Midgley? Yes. Councilor B Brosky. Councillor Romanul Remote. Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver. Yes. Councillor Williams? Yes. Ann Chair Garipay. Yes. N Um, and enough to pass a, a quorum,

▶ 15:52 Mark Garipay: Uh, pub, uh, public comment is, uh, now open. Um, this is the portion of the meeting where members of the public may speak on any item on tonight's agenda. Um, comments are, uh, expressed, expressing any viewpoint on matters, uh, on other matters are welcome. Um, please just state your name.

▶ 16:15 Speaker 9: Uh, Robert Driscoll. Uh, I'd like to speak tonight on behalf of the, uh, bill regarding, um, the Veterans tax, uh, property tax, uh, provision. So, um, just a little background. Um, I'm chair of the ME merose Veterans Advisory Board. I see many familiar faces around here from those of you that have attended our, our different events. Um, I've been on the board since 2005. Um, I'm a retired Melrose firefighter. Um, retired with 24 years of service. Um, next door, uh, I also just retired from the military with 38 years of, of military service and several deployments. And I'm currently working at the Boston Military Entrance Processing station in Boston on Summer Street where all military applicants from New England come to join the military. And I'm also the, um, military liaison for the Professional Firefighters of Massachusetts, uh, labor Organization. So MD Deep and, uh, fire and, uh, military, um, I issues. Um, this item, um, this little background was part of the Heroes Act, which was passed and, and signed into law last August, uh, by Governor Haley. Uh, 17 different provisions, uh, included in the act. Um, it's the most comprehensive, uh, veterans legislation in the state for the past 20 years. Um, and one part of the 17 items is the, um, uh, real estate, um, provision, uh, that is gonna be discussed, uh, in information tonight. Um, we are on the Veterans Board are highly in favor of this. Um, we met with the administration, um, back in November, uh, to go over all our goals and objectives for the, for the year. And this was one of our, uh, legislative, uh, goals for the year. Um, I want to thank, uh, the mayor, uh, for, uh, her leadership on this. And, uh, also Councilor Oppe, uh, who, uh, is our, um, unofficial liaison to the board and sat in on those meetings, um, with us. Uh, this is a, uh, a great item for the veterans, um, as the assessor will educate you. Um, currently, I believe there's 155 veterans in the city that, um, gain this, this benefit of, uh, $400, um, off their real estate taxes. Under the Heroes Act, it gave the local, uh, authorities, uh, two different options. One of 'em is to double that to 800. Um, the other option is to tie it to a cost of living, uh, increase. We are here to, uh, to support the, uh, doubling to the, the 800 Colas, uh, over time. Can, can, they're hard to budget for. Um, and you don't know how that, what the cola will be. Uh, two years ago it was over 8%, um, which, uh, could become unsustainable at some point. So, um, this would benefit a lot of the 155 veterans in the city. Uh, that, um, benefit with this. Um, when you do the math, it comes out to $62,000, um, which the size of the Merrill's budget, um, is a small, small portion of, uh, the vet, the city budget. Um, one of our board members, Jim Keen, is gonna speak more on the inflationary aspects of it. Um, but if anybody has any questions for, for me or, or the board, I'm, I'm open to any questions anybody may have.

▶ 20:18 Mark Garipay: Thank you. It's a portion of public comment. There's no back and forth. Okay. But I'm sure if any of the counselors do have questions, I mistake they'll, they'll, I apologize. They'll, they'll reach out.

▶ 20:26 Speaker 9: All right. Thank you. Thank you.

▶ 20:32 Speaker 9: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I am Jim Keen. I'm a resident of Melrose. I'm a Vietnam veteran. Uh, I've lived here since 1996. In examining the extension of this tax credit and looking at the history of the tax credit, going back, inflation ran about 3.5% for the 20 years before the pandemic. The pandemic just shot it right off the pages. It went to 12%. It's back down to about 5.7%. Now, depending on the commodity you're looking at, whether it's, uh, housing, groceries, uh, gasoline, automobile expenses. So in looking at the history of the, uh, the inflationary erosion of this benefit is basically very tiny right now. And that, uh, a additional $400, I think will mean a great deal to the, uh, disabled veterans of, um, ma uh, um, Melrose. And, uh, thank you very much for your attention. Thank you.

▶ 21:37 Speaker 8: Thank you, Mr. Keen. Anyone else?

▶ 21:41 Mark Garipay: Um, looking to speak in the gallery.

▶ 21:47 Speaker 8: Is there anyone online looking to speak?

▶ 21:49 Speaker 1: There is not. Mr.

▶ 21:51 Robb Stewart: Chairman, make a motion to close, public comment.

▶ 21:54 Mark Garipay: Second, we have a motion to close, uh, public comment by Const Stewart, seconded by Const Machete.

▶ 22:04 Speaker 8: Um, on discussion on roll call. Sorry,

▶ 22:10 Speaker 8: clerk, if you can just take a roll call. Yep. Thank you.

▶ 22:12 Speaker 1: Councilor Jamal. Dean? Yes. Councilor Ro. Council Hamilton. Counselor Hamilton? Yes. Councilor Karen Chetty? Yes. Councilor uh, president Meli?

▶ 22:25 Speaker 1: Yes. Councilor Brosky. Councilor Romanul?

▶ 22:31 Speaker 1: Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Vandiver. Yes.