Town of Southborough

 

Payments In-Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) Committee Meeting Minutes

 

Date of Meeting – Oct 6, 2009

 

Meeting Start:  10:30 AM

 

Attendees:

Paul Levenson (Committee Chairman)

Jim Kane (Committee Vice Chairman)

Bonnie Phaneuf (Selectman)

Brian Ballantine (Treasurer/Collector)

 

This was the second meeting of the Payment In-Lieu of Taxes Committee.

 

1. The first order of business was a brief discussion of the draft minutes from the Sep 8 kickoff meeting.

-       Bonnie Phaneuf recommended a couple of changes to correct a typo and to clarify one item. The Committee members in attendance accepted all of her recommendations.

-       Jim Kane agreed to update the minutes and forward the final version to Brian Ballantine.

-     Brian agreed to post the minutes on the TownÕs website under ÒPILOT CommitteeÓ.

 

2. Questions from Jim Kane and Paul Levenson were then discussed. The following summarizes the primary answers/clarifications to those questions:

 

a) PILOT CommitteeÕs primary goal - Fact Finding and Report to the Board of Selectman.

The fact-finding can include information on PILOT plans/strategies in other cities and towns in Massachusetts as well as in other States. The final report could also contain conclusions/recommendations/suggestions of the Committee.  

 

b) Jim KaneÕs & Paul LevensonÕs roles/responsibilities

-       Establish the Committee meeting schedule and agendas and prepare and maintain the minutes of each Committee meeting.

-       Perform majority of fact finding on PILOT programs in MA and other States (if necessary)

-       When contacting anyone regarding PILOT - state that we were appointed to this Committee and that we are gathering information for the Town on this subject.

-       Can meet with any or all of the Town Department Heads to obtain their input.

-       Prepare draft of Final Report for review by the Committee.

 

 

c) Correspondence with Tax-Exempts/Non-Profits in Southborough

-       It was agreed that all PILOT Committee correspondence with any non-profits in Southborough would be via Brian Ballantine.

-       It was recommended that Brian send a note to the new Headmasters at Fay School and St. MarkÕs about the PILOT Committee along with a copy of the prior PILOT Committee Report. Brian agreed to perform that task.

-       The Tax-Exempts/Non-Profits in the Town will be given the opportunity to review the draft of the Final Report of the PILOT Committee and to meet with the Committee to provide comments on the draft Report.

 

3. A few new handouts were provided by Bonnie and Brian:

-       List of Town Department Heads with contact numbers.

-       Page 358 from MA Municipal Finance Laws (MA Chapter 59, Section 5) containing language regarding real estate tax exemptions for various non-profits.

-       A copy of an Article from the Daily News Tribune, dated Oct 6, 2009, regarding the filed Hose Bill (H4226) versus the ÒDover AgreementÓ (MA General Laws Chapter 40A, Section 3) regarding zoning law restrictions pertaining to non-profits.

 

4. Paul and Jim will prepare a list of Cities/Towns in MA that they want to contact regarding PILOT programs. They will forward the list to Paul Cibelli and Paul will provide them with the appropriate contact names and numbers in the cities/towns.

 

5. It was recommended that the Town Counsel be invited to a future Committee meeting to be informed of the CommitteeÕs goals and plans and for the Counsel to provide the Committee with any insights/issues. This should be discussed at the next Committee meeting.  

 

6. It was agreed that PILOT Committee meetings would continue to be held on Tuesdays at 9:30 AM. Paul and Jim will meet to prepare a schedule for the remainder of 2009 and send to the Committee.

 

 

Meeting end:  11:10 AM