Question(s) 3+: Looking To FY 2021 (and FY2022) amid Covid-19

Fri, 1 May 2020 14:30:42 GMT

We have reached the 1st of May, and for many of us, we feel like Bill Murray in "Groundhog Day". Hit the alarm and go out or stay in, as the case may be, the a day that feels very much like the one before, and the one before that.

All things considered, with case infection counts and deaths mounting, it becomes minor by comparison. As Assessors, we need to stay sharp, and be prepared to handle all the valuation, public perception and budgetary issues that will come fast and furious.

I have had the pleasure of sitting in of most of the Listening Tour meetings that the MAAO has held in the past few days. There are many commonalities and yet, many differences from town to town in looking forward. Based on those meetings I have a series of questions that may serve as a measurement tool for what, where and how the MAAO can best resource its' membership. Please take a moment to consider these...

1 - Has your FY2021 operating budget been cut? If so from what to what? While realizing most town have not held their Town Meeting at this juncture, you likely have already heard from management.

2- Has your FY2021 staff level been reduced (elimination or furlough?) Again from what to what?

3 - Have any FY2021 contracts been eliminated or reduced (if so what type and how much?)

4 -For FY2021 and FY2022 - Are you in certification or Interim? FY2021 - FY2022-

5 - How are you planning to handle inspections while social distancing guideline are in place?

6A - What changes (if any) and you planning to handle daily interactions in your department? Many of these (Abutters List, Excise abatement, exemption appointments. etc.) have a large percentage of face to face transaction.

6B - Does your communities' website have the capabilities to be a "transaction center" , where a person could make applications, etc., as well as an information center?

6C - How much do you utilize your website presently?

7 - What was your median A/S ratio in FY2020? Where do you plan to set your median for FY2021? (for Residential and Commercial/Industrial)

8 - Have you started to hear concerns from taxpayers, public officials, etc. about Fiscal 2021 valuation in light of the pandemic? Note: As you all know, the Valuation date for FY2021 is January 1, 2020. (pre-covid)

9 - Have you started to consider market/budget projections for FY2022? Please feel free to add and comments or questions under the responses. Stay safe, stay sane!

Question(s) 3+: Looking To FY 2021 (and FY2022) amid Covid-19 - Sandwich

Mon, 4 May 2020 12:54:36 GMT

Question(s) 3+: Looking To FY 2021 (and FY2022) amid Covid-19 1 - Has your FY2021 operating budget been cut? If so from what to what? While realizing most town have not held their Town Meeting at this juncture, you likely have already heard from management.- A. Sandwich - Not as this time 2- Has your FY2021 staff level been reduced (elimination or furlough?) Again from what to what? A. Sandwich - 1 administrative position, but that was determined PRE Covid 3 - Have any FY2021 contracts been eliminated or reduced (if so what type and how much?) A. Sandwich - None at this time 4 -For FY2021 and FY2022 - Are you in certification or Interim? FY2021 - FY2022- A. Sandwich - BOTH FY21 and FY22 are interim years (FY20 cert) 5 - How are you planning to handle inspections while social distancing guideline are in place? A - Sandwich - Street observation, Aerial review (newly purchased NearMap with Pinpoint to review reported changes in dimension), Internet review, plan review. 6A - What changes (if any) and you planning to handle daily interactions in your department? Many of these (Abutters List, Excise abatement, exemption appointments. etc.) have a large percentage of face to face transaction. - A: Sandwich Use resources of internet to push for online or email submission for excise, abutters lists. Encourage mail only for exemption and abatements. NO office appointments, or home appointments allowed at present. Develop as reliable as possible submission for document related exemptions (Cl 22 various, 37 ,41A and 41C.) we typically had made office appointment for many of the filers. Concerns as to getting all information exist, but we will try to develop a way to have better confidence. 6B - Does your communities' website have the capabilities to be a "transaction center" , where a person could make applications, etc., as well as an information center? A: Sandwich - Not at present but am making changes to promote this concept. 6C - How much do you utilize your website presently? - A - Sandwich - Honestly was likely UNDERutilized prior to covid, not encouraging and setting information for meaningful daily use. 7 - What was your median A/S ratio in FY2020? A: Sandwich RES 96 - CI 97 Where do you plan to set your median for FY2021? A: Sandwich RES 93 CI 93 (for Residential and Commercial/Industrial) 8 - Have you started to hear concerns from taxpayers, public officials, etc. about Fiscal 2021 valuation in light of the pandemic? Note: As you all know, the Valuation date for FY2021 is January 1, 2020. (pre-covid) - A: Sandwich - minimal at this time 2-3 residents 2-3 commercial owners 9 - Have you started to consider market/budget projections for FY2022? A?: Sandwich YES Not a deep dive yet but looking to find projection for budget purposes wherever I can. As for market - vetting new 2020 sales sooner. Please feel free to add and comments or questions under the responses. Stay safe, stay sane!

Mon, 4 May 2020 15:22:58 GMT

Lost my 1st one....
# 1-3 No
#4 Interim both Princeton & Paxton
#5 Princeton will send postcards letting them know that their property is due to be inspected. Here is my draft: The Assessor’s office is required to measure and inspect each property once every ten years in accordance with requirements from the Bureau of Local Assessment. Additionally, they may visit a property that has recently sold or has a building permit, among other reasons. Your property has been identified as one that will be visited this year. Please know that PPE requirements will be in place. Additionally, if you are uncomfortable when the person visits you can answer questions at a distance at the door or make an appt. If you are not at home when your property is visited, the exterior will be measured, and a note left to call for an appointment.
If your property has a no trespassing sign and/or you do not wish to have someone come without an appointment, please call or email the office for an appointment.
#6 A, B, C Being rural and not working in super busy town halls, a face mask and 6' should not be too difficult, but Plexiglas for some offices is being investigated. The web is utilized, and docs are available, maybe not the most state of the art, but it functions. Email is encouraged and resident email addresses are kept on file with permission. Docs can be sent to them directly as follow up when necessary.
#7 Usually at .96, waiting to see what unfolds this summer and with the budget to see about balancing act, might back down to 93/94.
#8 As a June 30th community new growth is a concern, but otherwise local realtors say they are somewhat busy.
#9 Not there yet.
Kathy

Mon, 4 May 2020 22:12:32 GMT

1 - Not for FY21. For FY20, all departments have been asked to cut their remaining expense line items as much as we can in response to an anticipated revenue shortfall.

2 – No FY21 staffing reductions (it’s just me and one assistant).

3 – No FY21 contracts eliminated or reduced yet.

4 - Interim for FY21. Certification for FY22 (FY22 is when this COVID business will really smack us all in the face so that should be a doozy).

5 - I do the inspections myself on all residential permits, residential/commercial sales and residential cyclicals. PK handles commercial permits and personal property listing. Orleans is not a 653 community so thankfully I had a handle on our residential growth before the end of January. For 2020 sales I’m making exclusive use of MLS listings for photos of the interior at the time of the sale to check my data against; I’m reserving actual visits for the stuff I can’t figure out. For cyclicals, interior inspections are completely out of the question. In fact, to minimize contact with people as much as I can, I’m hand delivering a letter to them informing them 1.) of the day that I’ll be on their property and 2.) that I won’t be announcing my presence so please don’t be freaked if you see a fat guy in a yellow safety vest out your window. So far, the strategy has worked like gangbusters. My residents love getting the letter and are appreciative of the efforts we’re making to stay distanced.

6A - The one bummer for us has been no passport traffic; that’s a decent source of revenue for us. Almost every other counter-based function that we perform, we’ve been able to manage it digitally during this pandemic. So far, no complaints from our taxpayers.

6B - I think there’s some limited capacity to be a transaction center but I’d have to dig into it more. My absolute dream would be a situation where I can disperse and receive all my annual mailings electronically through our website (I&E’s, forms of list, sales verifications, statutory exemption/deferral apps, etc.). We kill entirely too many trees in our business; time to move into the modern age.

6C - I use my site all the time, direct residents to it frequently and try to think of ways to iterate on it constantly. Being grounded due to COVID has given me ample time to come up with a host of ideas for what will go up there. Trend reports on values and taxes and lots of other statistical stuff that would make the baseball stat nerds blush; I’ve got nothing but ideas. The trouble right now is that a good portion of Orleans’ considerably older population isn’t quite tech savvy enough to really be hip to it, so I’m figuring that my efforts now will really pay off with the next generation of retirees who are currently in their late 50s-early 60s and are just savvy enough with tablets and cellphones to get into it.

7- I went into my FY20 with a 92 median and I think we ended up at 96? I’d have to check my records when I’m back in my office next. People pay stupid money for not a lot of house in this town. Median taxable residential increase (non-growth) in FY20 for 101s was 2.43% and 1.69% for 102s. As for FY21, my gut feeling is to just leave everything alone and see how COVID impacts things. Looking quickly at my 2019 sales, my median ASR for 101s is .95 with a 7.7 COD and my 102s are .91 with a COD of 6. Not terrible (BLA may disagree) and not unexpected as I think the market in Orleans is finally cooling off; Orleans was back at pre-recession values in 2017 and continued to increase at 3% in 2018 and 2019.

8 - I heard these concerns today from some residents while I was out in the field. They seem to get the whole “this will impact your value next year, not this year” shtick although they don’t like hearing it because they’re struggling right now. Commercial…that’s a whole other ball of wax. We’re only 6% commercial in Orleans but that 6% is struggling mightily with this given how seasonal everything is. I’m at the point where I’m seeing nothing but negative PR for the town in 1.) sending out I&E’s to businesses that aren’t even open and 2.) sending out personal property listers, unannounced, to their premises to start counting chairs and computers. The optics just don’t look good at all.

9 - I’m in certification in FY22 so yeah I’m already giving it some thought. Again, I don’t think Orleans is going to get hit too hard on the residential side of things as a result of COVID; people are still buying property in this town with gusto, even with everything shut down. How we’ll handle commercial and industrial…I’ll need to talk more with PK about that.