Select Board

Select Board: January 24, 2024 (State of the Town)

· 140 min · Watch on MHTV →

Two-hour meeting dominated by a single agenda item: Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer's FY25 State of the Town presentation. The town reports it is "currently in good financial health" but warns difficult decisions will be required for FY25 and beyond, and notes the Board has adopted DOR-aligned financial policies, implemented cost-sharing collaboratives, and is pursuing organizational and operational reviews and exploring a town charter. Public comment ran long, post-failed-override, with nine residents raising assessor accountability, tax growth, remote work for department heads, school funding, and revenue diversification.

#override Lead ▶ 0 min

FY25 State of the Town: good health today, hard decisions ahead

Town flags FY25 and beyond will require difficult decisions; DOR-aligned financial policies, cost-sharing collaboratives, and operational reviews underway.

Read the full breakdown ▾

Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer presented the FY25 State of the Town, concerning the projected financial status of the town for FY25.

Headline framing

  • The town is facing increased financial difficulties as FY24 progresses and planning for FY25 begins
  • The town is currently in good financial health
  • Difficult decisions will need to be made for FY25 and beyond to ensure continued fiscal stability
  • The town will continue to take proactive steps to ensure future fiscal stability

Specific work already underway (as reported by the Chair)

The Board held a retreat in early fall 2023 to address questions and resident concerns and to explore options for increasing the town’s revenue. Since then, the Board has:

  • Adopted financial policies enacting best practices and advice from the Massachusetts Department of Revenue
  • Implemented cost-sharing collaboratives (referenced from /what-can-we-do.html as evidence the path exists; this meeting is the citation for that)
  • Pursuing organization and operational reviews
  • Exploring a town charter

Where this sits in the broader story

This meeting comes after the failed FY24 override in mid-2023 (referenced by a resident in public comment). The State of the Town is the early-cycle framing the Board uses to set expectations for the upcoming budget. The Jan 2024 framing – “good financial health today, hard decisions coming” – predates the more acute language used in the FY27 cycle by two years.

No formal vote; presentation followed by Board discussion.

Thatcher W. Kezer III (Town Administrator) · Erin M. Noonan (chair)

Also on the agenda

#public-comment ▶ 50 min

Nine residents press on assessor accountability, override loss, and school funding

Post-failed-override comments: assessor accountability, remote-work policy for department heads, school funding gaps, town-school cooperation, revenue diversification.

Read ▾

Following the State of the Town, the Board took extensive public comment. Themes recorded in the minutes:

Tax and assessment process

  • Questions on property taxes and explanations of assessments
  • Suggestion that the town website include a link that fully explains the tax assessment process
  • “No standards or guidance put forth by Assessors. Why isn’t the Town Administrator/Select Board holding Assessors accountable?”
  • Concern that a Board of Assessors representative was not invited to the meeting to answer questions
  • Question on tax growth and accountability to the people of the town

Technology

  • ClearGov and migration to Office 365 are a big plus; suggestion to add Microsoft Teams suite

Mission and growth

  • Comment on the town’s mission statement and how level of services is measured
  • Question on how to attract and maintain new growth through commercial development

Department-head accessibility

  • “Town department heads should not work remotely and should live in Marblehead”
  • “Cannot find anyone at Mary Alley to answer his questions because they are not there”
  • The public should be able to make appointments

Decentralization

  • “We have a decentralized form of government locally, which has amazing positives, and occasionally some negatives. It is the role of the Board of Assessors to be answering these questions and handling these issues.”
  • Comment also on base levy, new growth, revenue projections, and free cash

The override

  • “Impressed with the presentation and its transparency. Disappointed with the failed override but appreciated the Board’s desire to be creative in finding other revenue sources for the town.”

Schools

  • “Are expense projections based on current services?”
  • “If the town is not asking for an override, what about the schools?”
  • “The children of Marblehead deserve exemplary education and the current budget does not allow that. Positions were left unfilled at the schools because they could not attract candidates. Town will lose families coming into town if not in good financial health. Town and Schools should work together.”

“What we invest in as a town shows what we all value.”

The Chair thanked everyone for the comments and discussion. No votes taken on public-comment items.

Adjournment

Motion made and seconded to adjourn at 8:20 PM. All in favor.

Multiple residents (names not recorded in minutes) · Erin M. Noonan (chair)

Tonight's record

1 decision ▾
  1. No formal votes; presentation and discussion only
2 documents ▾
  • FY25 State of the Town PowerPoint presentation — Single document referenced in the minutes' document list. Not separately published with the meeting record.
  • Department of Revenue financial-policy advice (referenced) — DOR municipal-finance best practices the Board has adopted; not a specific document in the meeting record but pointed to as the source for the recent policy adoptions.
140 min full transcript ▾

AI-generated · may contain errors · verify with the source video

Note on this transcript. This summary was derived from the official meeting minutes (data/minutes/select_board/2024-01-24.cleaned.txt). The minutes are the authoritative record. Public commenters are not named in the minutes; only comment topics are summarized. For verbatim quotes, please cross-check against the official approved minutes.

FY25 State of the Town presentation (6:00 - 7:00 PM)

Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer presented the FY25 State of the Town, concerning the projected financial status of the town for FY25.

Key framing: The town is facing increased financial difficulties as FY24 progresses and planning for FY25 begins. While the town is currently in good financial health, difficult decisions will need to be made for FY25 and beyond to ensure continued fiscal stability. The town will continue to take proactive steps to ensure future fiscal stability.

The Board asked questions and discussed the presentation. The Chair noted that the Board held a retreat in early fall 2023 to address questions and resident concerns and to explore options for increasing the town’s revenue. The Board recently adopted financial policies enacting best practices and advice from the Department of Revenue, as well as implementing cost-sharing collaboratives. The Board is pursuing organization and operational reviews and exploring a town charter.

Public comment (7:00 - 8:20 PM)

Extended public comment period. Topics raised by residents (names not recorded in the minutes):

  • Questions on property taxes and explanations of assessments. Suggestion for a town website link fully explaining the tax assessment process.
  • ClearGov and migration to Office 365 are a big plus; suggestion to add Teams suite.
  • Comment on the mission statement and how level of services is measured, and how to attract and maintain new growth through commercial development.
  • Upset at earlier response from a board member to a resident; asked why a member of the Assessors was not invited to the meeting to answer questions.
  • Impressed with the presentation and its transparency. Disappointed with the failed override but appreciated the Board’s desire to be creative in finding other revenue sources for the town.
  • Question on tax growth and accountability to the people of the town.
  • No standards or guidance put forth by Assessors; why isn’t the Town Administrator/Select Board holding Assessors accountable?
  • Town department heads should not work remotely and should live in Marblehead; cannot find anyone at Mary Alley to answer his questions because they are not there; the public should be able to make appointments.
  • We have a decentralized form of government locally, with amazing positives and occasionally some negatives; it is the role of the Board of Assessors to be answering these questions and handling these issues. Comment also on base levy and new growth, revenue projections, and free cash.
  • “What we invest in as a town shows what we all value.”
  • Are expense projections based on current services? If the town is not asking for an override, what about the schools?
  • The children of Marblehead deserve exemplary education and the current budget does not allow that. Positions were left unfilled at the schools because they could not attract candidates. Town will lose families coming into town if not in good financial health. Town and Schools should work together.

The Chair thanked everyone for the comments and discussion.

Adjournment

Motion made and seconded to adjourn at 8:20 PM. All in favor.

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