Legal & Legislative Committee — 2022-05-05
Attendance
Christopher Cinella ; Jen Grigoraitis ; Maya Jamaleddine ; Manjula Karamcheti ; Leila Migliorelli ; Robb Stewart
Agenda
- Call to Order
- Public Comment
- Orders
- ORDER-2022-66 : An Order Relative to Property Tax Relief for Active Duty Members of the National Guard (Item # 9604)
- Ordinances
- ORDNC-2022-3 : An Order to Amend Revised Local Options for Property Tax Exemptions
- ORDNC-2022-4 : Revocation of Chapter 59, Section 5 Clause 57 to Allow for Qualifying Tax Relief
- Adjournment
Minutes
CITY OF MELROSE LEGAL & LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE CALENDAR● MAY 5, 2022 Council Chamber, First Floor, Melrose City Hall Committee Meeting 7:23 PM 562 Main Street, Melrose, MA 02176 The public should take notice that the Melrose City Council may, on certain occasions, have a quorum in attendance due to standing committees of the City Council consisting of both voting and non-voting members. Members attending this duly posted meeting are participating and deliberating only in conjunction with the business of the standing committee. Attendee Name Title Status Arrived Leila Migliorelli Chair Present Maya Jamaleddine Vice Chair Present Jen Grigoraitis Present Robb Stewart Present Manjula Karamcheti Present Christopher Cinella President, ex oficio Present Non voting members present include: Councilor MacMaster, Councilor Eccles, and Councilor Williams.
ORDER-2022-66 Accepting Act of Legislature/Local Option An Order Relative to Property Tax Relief for Active Duty Members of the National Guard (Item # 9604) Ought to Pass City Council
ORDNC-2022-3 Amending Something Previously Adopted An Order to Amend Revised Local Options for Property Tax Exemptions Ought to Pass City Council
ORDNC-2022-4 Amending Something Previously Adopted Revocation of Chapter 59, Section 5 Clause 57 to Allow for Qualifying Tax Relief Ought to Pass City Council City of Melrose Page 1 5/9/2022 12:37 PM
Transcript
▶ 23:52 Leila Migliorelli: president sanella ex officio in lieu of a roll call vote this serves as a notice of a quorum for the record i'm also we're also joined tonight by non-voting Member counselors eccles mcmaster um and williams um now i'd like to motion by unanimous consent to open the floor for public comment seeing no objection we are now open for public comments this is a portion of the meeting where anyone can speak on any item on our agenda tonight good evening thank you for having me i'm jim keene i live over on woodcrest drive some background i am my veteran i'm with the melrose veterans advisory board i've been for a number of years i am a military veteran from the navy and I'm a Vietnam veteran and I'm gonna contrast something for you and that is
▶ 24:51 the difference between 9-11 what happened before 9-11 and what happened after 9-11 reserves before 9-11 and the National Guard is not the reserves in the National Guard we see today at that time when I was in the reserves before 9-11 it was a one weekend a month and two weeks in the summer which was largely devoted to playing golf after 9-11 the picture of these for the National Guard and the reserves changed enormously they have become frontline troops in the defense of this nation and they're being deployed all over the the world in some very very bad neighborhoods so what I'm asking for this support of this ordinance is to give these men and women financial relief. For the most part, they're young and they're young families.
▶ 25:47 And I think the financial burden can be raised from them a bit by doing this ordinance. But understand something very, very carefully. They are on the front lines now. This is not me playing golf for two weeks in the summer. So with that, I thank you and urge you to pass this ordinance. Thank you. Thank you very much. Is there anyone online wishing to speak? There's no one online, thank you. If there's an objection, I'd like to close public comment. Yeah, Madam Chair, we do have correspondence from Colonel Driscoll, with your permission, if the clerk of committees could read that into the record. Yes. From Robert Driscoll, Melrose Veterans Advisory Board. The subject is an order relative property tax relief for active duty Member of national guard due to previously planned out
▶ 26:48 out of state vacation i'm unable before this to appear before the city council tonight to express my endorsement of this order the order is a strong message of support for our uniformed citizens and demonstrates to them the city of melrose supports their service to our country a deployment is a difficult time for a military member and their family left behind the strain on relationships finances and mental health can be overwhelming it requires the backing of relatives neighbors schools and communities to keep the family and household intact melrose has consistently led the commonwealth in supporting and honoring our citizen soldiers and veterans this is apparent with our dedicated monuments and buildings across
▶ 27:32 the city soldiers and sailors memorial hall and the melrose veterans memorial middle school Our multiple veteran organizations, two VFWs, the American Legion, Veterans Advisory Board, Friday Veterans Club, Mount Rose Memory Project, et cetera, as well as the various activities and ceremonies conducted throughout the year. This order before you tonight is another brick in the wall in support of deploying military citizens. I thank Councilor McMaster and Councilor Karim Shady for bringing this order forward. I ask the Council give this order the utmost support. Respectfully, Robert Driscoll, Chair, Melrose Veterans Advisory Board. Thank you, Mr. Clerk. And so now, if there's no objection, I'd like to close public comment.
▶ 28:23 Leila Migliorelli: Seeing none, we're now closed for public comment. Since we have Member of the administration here tonight to speak before us, I would entertain a motion or no, actually, I'd like to motion by unanimous consent to suspend the rules before we proceed seeing no objection the rules are now suspended we have three items on our agenda tonight the first being order 2022-66 an order relative to property tax relief for active duty Member of the National Guard this is sponsored by councillors McMaster and Karim Chedi would one of you I'd like to speak on this order first thank you madam chair good evening I first want to thank consulate Carmen Chedi for partnering on this ordinance proposed ordinance with me I also like to acknowledge miss Phillips and miss
▶ 29:08 Shawn M. MacMaster: McClellan for their work in advising us behind the scenes in order to get this matter before us this evening I don't want to be redundant and say anything that I don't need to say we heard what Colonel Driscoll had to say through the clerk of committees we heard from Jim thank you Jim for being here tonight this is really low-hanging fruit I think for us as a council in Melrose we are really leaders when it comes to what we do for our veterans and for those active Member of the Armed Forces the mayor I know this is a priority of his is the military we've already taken a step as a council with the honor roll and working in partnership with the mayor to make needed improvements there I think when
▶ 29:51 Shawn M. MacMaster: it comes to low-hanging fruit and things that we can do to give back to our servicemen and women whether it's in the National Guard or other branches of the armed forces that we should be doing that so i think the need is clearly there just as is some background and i know that miss mcclellan and miss phillips can answer any questions that may come up about this this is something that we had accepted this is a provision of state law that was first accepted in 2012. it expired this is something that has to be renewed every two years i would suggest that it expired probably because it just wasn't being tracked and i think as a council we've made an affirmative step to ensure that matters that do have expiration dates are being tracked
▶ 30:35 Shawn M. MacMaster: we've changed our rules of order to have an expiry section so this is something that was on the books before it expired and from serving as a liaison to the veterans advisory board it was very much of interest to them that we get this back on the books in the form of an ordinance um teamed up with consular karma chedi who comes from a military family and again appreciate her support on this so there is precedent we had accepted this before i would say from a financial standpoint the impact here to the city's coffers is really negligible we're talking right now maybe in terms of those who would qualify less than a half dozen but frankly if it was a lot more than that um we would be filing this anyways uh so i will uh i will leave
▶ 31:26 Manjula Karamcheti: it at that and um if with your permission madam chair i think consulate carmen cheney may want to be heard yes and again i don't want to be redundant i think mr keene and our the letter that was read really represent all of the right reasons for why this is important to do um for our active duty Member in the National Guard and our other veterans and those who serve. There is such a huge impact on the families who are home and the military who are serving and anything we can do to support those families I think is the right thing to do. For myself, having two family Member who were reservists in the Navy and I was formerly the school counselor at hanscom air force base just really getting to know sort of all of the
▶ 32:16 Manjula Karamcheti: issues that impact families when it comes to finances and settling in after service having this kind of tax relief just really makes sense it's the right thing to do to help families get their feet on the ground again any little bit that we can do to help those who serve us and protect us just it's the right thing to do so thank you counselors um chief excel uh assessor mcclellan and um solicitor phillips would you like to come and speak on this or answer any questions that any of the counselors may have so i don't have anything specific to add but if i can answer any questions if you does anyone have any questions are there any questions from the committee no any questions from non-committee Member seeing none what's the will of the committee
▶ 33:19 Leila Migliorelli: i'd like to make a motion to approve i recommend a full council all right motion to uh approve to recommend a full council made by Councilor karen shady seconded by Councilor stewart all in favor roll call right yep sorry um call the roll please vice chair from Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Cramshitty? Yes. President Cinella? Yes. And Chair Migliorelli? Yes. That's six yes. Right, so this order will be brought to the full council at the next meeting with a recommendation for passage. Next up on the agenda is ordinance 2022-3 in order to amend revised local options property tax exemptions and this is sponsored by mayor broder okay so for this ordinance please
▶ 34:26 refer to the memo that i sent originally introducing it as well as the additional reference sheet that i provided earlier this week that is highlighted so last year on march 1st the city council adopted order 2021-83 the body of this order intended to increase the income and asset limits of our 41c senior exemption and the asset limits of our 17d senior and surviving spouse and minors exemption by the cost of living adjustment each year also known as the cola in order to increase those income and asset limits by the cola each year the law requires our legislative body to specifically adopt clauses 41d and 17e respectively order 2021-83 from last year did not refer specifically to those clauses so to correct the administrative error and update
▶ 35:19 Leila Migliorelli: our code it requires a new vote of the city council so um i can answer any questions that you have um regarding this thank you president snell second second motion made by president sanella and seconded by Councilor Jamaleddine. Vice Chair Jamaleddine? Yes. Councilor Grigoraitis? Yes. Councilor Stewart? Yes. Councilor Carmichael? Yes. President Sinella? Yes. And Chair Migliorelli? Yes. That's six yes. All right, thank you. This will be on the next full council meeting agenda with recommendation for passage. Last on the meeting is Ordinance 2022-4, revocation of chapter 59 section 5 clause 57 to allow for qualifying tax relief this is sponsored by counselors mcmaster and karm chedi uh would either of you like to speak on the order thank
▶ 36:26 Shawn M. MacMaster: you uh madam chair this is really a procedural matter in that in order for the ordinance that we just recommended to be adopted by the full council to take full effect we have to revoke chapter 59 section 5 clause 57 which was accepted at one point by the then board of aldermen what that does is it actually restricts the percentage of the the abatement that can be offered so with what we just recommended to go before the full council with a favorable vote that would allow us at the discretion of the board of assessors to grant up to 100 percent of property tax exemption if we don't revoke this then we are limited and the spirit of what we just passed would not be able to go into effect what i would also say is and again
▶ 37:16 Shawn M. MacMaster: thank you to miss mcclellan for her work on this clause 57 can't coexist with pending legislation right now before the state legislature with respect to the senior circuit breaker so So that also has been a priority of the mayor, is tax relief for older adults. So this would be something that we would have to look to revoke in the future anyways, and my understanding is the administration would be coming before us at a later point if we didn't do this tonight. Clause 57 right now also restricts the Board of Assessors from granting multiple exemptions to a single parcel. in addition to that it limits the abatement amount to the amount whereas to a particular amount whereas otherwise we could go up to the hundred percent so that's why we are looking to have this
▶ 38:09 Leila Migliorelli: revoked and that's i think council of carmen jay will move to do so thank you i will entertain a motion i'd like to make a motion to move this to full committee second okay uh motion for recommendation for passage by Councilor karen shady seconded by vice chair Jamaleddine mr clerk vice chair Jamaleddine yes Councilor Grigoraitis yes Councilor stewart yes Councilor Cassidy yes president sanella yes and chair Migliorelli yes that's six yes great so this order will be brought to the full council the next meeting with a recommendation for passage um thank you solicitor phillips and uh chief assessor mcclellan for being here tonight thank you entertain a motion to adjourn second second motion to adjourn made by um president snellis seconded by counselor stewart