My thoughts on taxes!

Taxes are a sure thing, but how do we as a town better manage the ups and downs of assessment and ensure that each property owner, residential or commercial shares in the tax burden?

We all know this is a tough question, but where I believe the current Board of Selectmen failed this town was not informing the residents that the tax burden with the new assessment would increase residential property taxes at a higher percentage than the commercial or industrial properties. For the longest time the Planning Board and the Board of Selectmen have said that industrial development will reduce our taxes; well, this year we all saw that was not true. On the contrary because of when we needed to do a new assessment the residents were hit with one of the largest increases I have experienced since I moved here in 1994.

The Planning Board with the Board of Selectmen liaison needs to require more realistic impact fees on our commercial development. Our attorney needs to ensure that future increases in costs of equipment and services is incorporated into to the contingencies and stipulations of new projects. We are the 10th largest town by population, and we need a more sophisticated process for stipulations and requirements for all new developments. As a resident I brought forward legal stipulations from another town that built a warehouse the size of the Hudson Logistics Center and each stipulation was written in legal language and each had to be individually negotiated by attorneys and there were consequences to missing deadlines and going over what was agreed upon, but alias that is not the level of detail Hudson currently puts into their site plan approvals and development agreements.

Moving forward I believe we need to be ready to reassess taxes sooner than 5 years if the real estate market goes in a positive direction for decreasing our assessments. I believe tax assessment market monitoring needs to be put on the Board of Selectmen agenda on a standing basis, so it is not forgotten or ignored. A formal process for a continuous assessment of the market is vital for the Hudson taxpayers, as they want to see actions being taken to remedy this situation.

If possible, a ceiling percentage might need to be placed on our property taxes, such that no one resident will see an increase of their taxes in one year over 5% or a percentage that is reasonable. This is just an idea which needs to be considered along with other options to help our citizens manage their finances.

After an assessment is done there needs to be a review of the process and a closer look at the mistakes that were made that would have been easily caught if the company was more detail oriented. I say this because as I look at my tax bill there were mathematical errors, an outbuilding that never existed and who knows what else that I did not catch.

The Board of Selectmen need adopt a process of After-Action Reviews of projects, policies and procedures. They need to begin with this assessment! (This was written in 2023)