Watertown News (https://www.watertownmanews.com/category/government/page/31/)
District A Councilor Nicole Gardner. As part of the changes to the Watertown Charter all City Councilors must have an annual meeting to meet with the public. District A Councilor Nicole Gardner announced the date of her meeting. See info below. City Councilor Nicole Gardner’s Annual Councilor Meeting is on Thursday, Dec.
A State law that allows cities and towns to shift the tax rates from residential properties to commercial and industrial properties also stands in the way of providing as much relief to homeowners as the City Council would like. Last week, the City Council adopted the new tax rate with a split tax rate and residential exemption that would increase the average annual tax bill by $309 or 4.4 percent. State Law’s Impact on Watertown Taxes
Proposition 2 1/2, which is known for limiting the overall tax levy increase to 2.5 percent per year, also allows for some relief of up to residential property owners. Watertown City Assessor Earl Smith told the City Council on Nov. 22 that the law also limits how much can be “shifted” onto CIP (commercial, industrial and personal) properties.
The annual Watertown property tax classification hearing and vote will be held by the City Council on Tuesday, Nov. 22, and taxes look likely to rise in Fiscal Year 2023. City Assessor Earl Smith will present the Tax Classification during the meeting, which begins at 7 p.m. The presentation can be seen by clicking here. The Watertown Board of Assessors recommends adopting the maximum shift from residential properties to CIP (commercial, industrial and personal) properties, which is 150 percent, according to the presentation. Also, the Board recommends that the Council provide a residential exemption of 33 percent, which would be three percentage points higher than Fiscal Year 2022.
Watertown City Hall
Watertown’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget increased by $4.325 million when the City Council approved the budget amendment on Nov. 9. Most of the additional funds will go to help purchase the former Parker School or will go into the High School project stabilization fund. City Manager George Proakis gave the details of the budget amendment for the fiscal year that ends on June 30, 2023. The additional fund mostly come from accounts that came in higher than when the budget was approved last spring, Proakis said.
District B City Councilor Lisa Feltner. As part of the changes to the Watertown Charter all City Councilors must have an annual meeting to meet with the public. District B Councilor Lisa Feltner announced the date of her meeting. See info below. City Councilor Lisa Feltner’s Annual Councilor Meeting is on Tuesday, Nov.
A rendering of the building proposed for 490 Arsenal Way, known as Linx II. The Planning Board will consider two life science buildings proposed to go on existing biotech sites in Watertown when it meets on Wednesday, Nov. 16. The first is at 490 Arsenal Way, where Columbia Massachusetts Arsenal Office Properties LLC seeks to build a 104,000 sq. ft.
The procedure for notifying the public about development projects will be discussed by the City Council’s Committee on Economic Development and Planning on Monday evening. The meeting will be on Monday, Nov. 14 at 6 p.m. in the Third Floor Conference Room in City Hall, and on Zoom. Ways to watch and partcipate:
The meeting will be televised through WCATV (Watertown Cable Access Television): http://vodwcatv.org/CablecastPublicSite/?channel=3
Join the meeting online at this link: https://watertown-ma.zoom.us/j/83549340015
Participate by phone in audio using these numbers: (877) 853-5257 or (888) 475-4499 (Toll Free) and enter Webinar ID: 835 4934 0015
The public may comment through email: vpiccirilli@watertown-ma.gov
Charlie Breitrose
Democrats fared better in Watertown than in Massachusetts as a whole in the 2022 State Election, and a majority of city voters supported all four of the ballot questions. More than half of Watertown’s registered voters turned out for the Nov. 8 election, with 13,624 (53.3 percent) of the 25,560 registered voters casting ballots, according to the City Clerk’s election results. In the race for governor and lieutenant governor, Democrats Maura Healey and Kim Driscoll received 77.6 percent of the vote in Watertown, with 10,574 votes. Republicans Geoff Diehl and Leah Allen received 2,733 votes. Libertarians Kevin Reed and Peter Everett got 179 votes.