Town Meeting delayed
Published in the April 14, 2020 edition.
By MARK SARDELLA
WAKEFIELD – The Town Council took several actions last night in light of the COVID-19 shutdown that will have a direct impact on local residents. All seven members of the Town Council took part in last night’s meeting, which was held via Zoom teleconferencing and carried live on WCAT’s Facebook page.
The board extended the deadline for payment of property taxes and postponed the date of Annual Town Meeting from May 4 to June 8.
Town Counsel Thomas Mullen explained that these steps were made possible by the passage of recent state legislation. Chapter 53 of the Acts of 2020, enacted on April 3, addresses some of the challenges faced by municipalities as a result of the COVID-19 crisis.
The due date for payment of property tax bills was extended to June 1. The Town Council also extended the deadline to apply for property tax exemptions from April 1 to June 1.
In addition, the Town Council waived the payment of interest and penalties on late payment of taxes (including excise taxes, water and sewer bills and betterment assessments) for payments due on or after March 10, 2020 (the date of the Governor’s declaration of a state of emergency), provided that payment of those bills is made by June 30, 2020.
The votes on the tax-related measures were unanimous.
With respect to changing the date of Annual Town Meeting, Mullen noted that even before the passage of the special legislation, the Town Council had the power to postpone Town Meeting.
However, Mullen explained, previously the law would have required any postponed Town Meeting to complete its business by June 30. The new legislation allows Town Meeting to continue, if necessary, beyond June 30 if “an emergency that poses an immediate threat to the health or safety of persons or property … prevents the completion” of the meeting and if “the Governor has declared a state of emergency.”
Mullen also addressed the options if the virus continues to make it impossible to hold Town Meeting on June 8. Once the Town Meeting warrant is issued, he explained, if there is a need for further postponement, the Town Moderator in consultation with the Town Council and local health and safety officials, may postpone the Town Meeting for another 30 days.
“He may do so more than once,” Mullen advised, “even if it means that Town Meeting would not start until after June 30.”
If the emergency prevents the town from adopting a budget for FY 2021 before the July 1 start of the fiscal year, the Town Council can request permission from the state to proceed on the basis of monthly budgets, each one being not less than 1/12 of the FY 2020 budget, until a new budget is approved.
Town Moderator William Carroll also dialed into last night’s meeting. He concurred with Mullen’s assessment of the town’s options for Town Meeting. He mentioned the possibility of meeting in a school gymnasium with seats spread apart, if necessary. He said that WCAT could use a highly directional shotgun microphone to pick up speakers’ voices from a distance and avoid the sharing of conventional microphones.
The Town Council voted unanimously to postpone Annual Town Meeting to Monday, June 8.
The board then approved the warrant of the 2020 Annual Town Meeting. The 28-article warrant includes the FY 2021 town budget.
The warrant also includes an article seeking funding to expand and renovate the police side of the Public Safety Building and an article to fund the town’s share of the Greenwood School roof replacement. Another article seeks to raise and appropriate $10 million to fund a long-range road improvement program to be funded through bonds staggered over a period of years.
