Town Moderator seeking people for Finance Committee

The Town Moderator is seeking candidates/nominations for Lynnfield’s Finance Committee – 3 year term member.

Working with other members, the duties include contributing to thought processes’ regarding the Town’s operational and capital budgets and financial position and strategies, reviewing, evaluating and discussing departmental budget requests, providing recommendations for upcoming warrant articles, researching strategies and items that arise, and providing an overall budget recommendation to be voted on in the Annual Town Meeting. Members are expected to gain familiarity with applicable Massachusetts General Laws and general financial principles.

Members must be available to attend committee meetings which are held on a Monday night each month. Meetings are held more frequently during the budget preparation season (January- April).

Interested applicants should email a letter of interest to Joe Markey at joe.markey

Correction: Six Million not five

The settlement with National Development is actually SIX million not five.    Settlement document is available at:

https://topics01940.files.wordpress.com/2019/05/fully-executed-settlement-letter-marketstreet-lynnfield.pdf

FIVE Million Dollar Tax Reduction for National Development

At Town Meeting the Town Administrator confirmed that the Town spent 36,000 dollars to defend itself against 4 cases at the state Appellate Tax Board. The resultant settlement lowered National Development assessment of Market Street by FIVE million dollars and the town had to refund 102,000 dollars rather than continue spending money on legal fees. This is important for the following reasons:

1. The reduction in the assessment saves National approximately 85,000 per year. In two years they will have saved approximately 272,000. Almost the same amount they proposed “donating” for the fields. In summary the donation would not cost National Development anything.
2. The FIVE million dollars reduction will be made by spreading the cost over all the property taxpayers in town.

This case was settled in Oct 2018, but has never been publicized.

So much for transparency