Town of Reading Massachusetts Annual Report
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Town of Reading Massachusetts ANNUAL REPORT 1995 TABLE OF CONTENTS TOWN MANAGER’S LETTER 1 ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE DEPARTMENT 2 Accounting 2 Assessment 2 Collection of Taxes 2 Data Processing 4 Treasurer 5 Report of the Town Collector 6 FY '95 Abatements 12 Financial Reports 14 DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT 54 Inspections Division 54 Community Planning and Development Commission 54 Zoning Board of Appeals 55 Sign Review Board 55 Land Bank Committee 55 Historical Commission 55 Conservation Commission 56 Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) 57 GENERAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT 62 Board of Selectmen 62 Town Clerk 63 Town Counsel 64 HOUSING AUTHORITY 65 HUMAN SERVICES 67 Elder Services 68 Health Division 70 Recreation Division 73 Veteran's Services 76 LEGISLATIVE BODY 77 Town Meeting Reports 77 Voting Results 140 Organization Chart 147 LIBRARY 148 PUBLIC SAFETY 151 Fire Department 151 Emergency Management 1 52 Police Department 154 Central Dispatch 158 Animal Control 158 DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS 159 Director's Comments 159 Administration Division 160 Engineering Division 160 Highway Division 160 Vehicle Maintenance 161 Solid Waste 161 Snow and Ice 161 Forestry and Parks Division 162 Tree Warden and Superintendent of Insect Pest Control 162 Building Maintenance Division 163 Cemetery Division 163 Custodian of Veteran's Graves 164 Water and Sewer Distribution Division 164 Water Supply and Treatment Division 165 SCHOOL DEPARTMENT 167 Superintendent's Annual Report 167 Northeast Metropolitan Regional Vocational School 185 BOARDS, COMMITTEES, COMMISSIONS 194 Town of Reading 16 Lowell Street Reading, MA 01867-2685 TOWN MANAGER FAX: (617) 942-9070 (617) 942-9043 To the Residents of Reading: The following pages contain the complete 1995 Annual Report for the Town of Reading. This report supplements the Summary Annual Report that was printed in the March 3, 1996 issue of the Suburban News. The Reading Municipal Light Department has prepared a separate Annual Report which is available from their offices at 230 Ash Street in Reading. 1995 was an extremely busy year in the community. A great deal of progress was made in a number of areas, and there were a lot of changes. Perhaps the largest area of change was in the School Department, and the community celebrated Superintendent Robert Munnelly's retirement, and was delighted to welcome Superintendent Harry Harutunian to the community. The Annual Report will talk about a lot of the highlights in the individual departments. Two of the common elements throughout this report is an emphasis on the continuing improving financial health of the community, and our progress in capital improvements. The community had long neglected its buildings, roads, equipment and other physical elements of the community that make the community run. 1995 was the year of significant progress in reducing the backlog of capital items that we needed to deal with. Certainly the major item was the ground breaking and beginning of construction on a new Parker Middle School which will be completed in 1997. Reading continues to be a caring community, and one where volunteerism is essential to its continued success. Hundreds of volunteers continue to support this community on elected/ appointed boards and commissions, in helping the elderly of the community, and coaching and otherwise assisting our youth, and in raising funds to support many activities of the community that are not supported through the tax dollars. I hojDe residents will read this report of Reading's 1995 activities and improve their understanding reciation for the community in which they live. As always, I or any of the Town's staff, lappy^to ans ver a^fy questions ^ou may have. Peter I. Hechenblei Town Manager 1 . ACCOUNTING AND FINANCE DEPARTMENT Accounting The Accounting Department is responsible for ensuring that all financial transactions of the Town are in compliance with legal requirements, and are properly recorded on a timely basis. Additionally, the Accounting Department maintains all financial records of the Town in order to develop all of the financial reports and schedules that are required to provide meaningful and accurate information for decision making. The 1995 audit report is included as part of the Annual Report. Assessment Assessment of property is the first step in the process of tax revenue collection for the Town of Reading. The Assessment Division's function is to provide for the fair and equitable assessment of all taxable real and personal property. The Assessors must annually determine the tax levy and obtain state approval of the tax rate, so that the bills can be issued in a timely manner. This year was a year for the revaluation of all real estate. It was accomplished by the Town without hiring an outside firm to measure and list or value property. The tax rate for Fiscal 1996 was set at $16.38 per thousand, a decrease of $0.96 per thousand over the Fiscal 1995 rate of $17.34 per thousand. The total assessed value of all of the 8000+ properties in the Town of Reading for Fiscal 1996 is $1,568,286,100, an increase in value of $139,692,800 over Fiscal 1995. The breakdown of property by types and percentages is as follows: Residential $1,431,604,500 91.29% Commercial 108,716,700 6.93% Industrial 15,252,000 .97% Personal 12.712.900 .81% TOTAL $1,428,593,300 100.00% Since the Town's residential property is over 90% of the value, the Board of Assessors again recommended and the Board of Selectmen concurred that it is wise to keep the tax rate the same for all classes of property. Shifting of the tax burden to commercial properties would be an enormous burden to the businesses, with very little tax relief for individual property owners. At the classification hearing, the Board of Selectmen also decided not to shift the tax burden within the residential class to non residential owners, or to adopt a small commercial property exemption. Collection Of Taxes The Town Collection function reports success for the third year in reducing the total of delinquent, liened, and deferred real estate taxes. Delinquent taxes had been rising dramatically from 1990 to 1992 (see chart). The total outstanding property taxes of $1,051,000 at the end of Fiscal Year 1995 shows a particular drop in the amount of liened property taxes outstanding. 2 . Town of Reading, Massachusetts Outstanding Property Taxes at End of Fiscal Year Last Nine Fiscal Years Amount Outstanding t'QQ£) Outstanding Property Taxes (amounts expressed in thousands) Fiscal Year Ended 0) (2) (3) ]une 30, Delinquent liened Deferred Totals $ $ $ $ 1987 568 108 146 822 1988 423 151 168 742 1989 255 341 176 772 1990 384 423 203 1,010 1991 416 524 238 1,178 1992 531 617 283 1,431 1993 297 632 305 1,234 1994 295 496 355 1,146 1995 369 354 328 1,051 ( 1 ) Unpaid real estate and personal property taxes (including taxes in litigation) that have not been converted into tax liens. (2) Includes real estate taxes, interest to date of taking, and certain costs of converting delinquent taxes to tax liens. (3) Real estate taxes that remain unpaid through tax deferral and recovery agreements. 3 . Accounting and Finance Department Increased expenditures for Land Court foreclosure proceedings have resulted in the payment of taxes previously liened. Nearly one third of the $1,051,000 outstanding taxes, or $328,000 are deferred taxes, which will be collected when the elderly persons who deferred paying taxes are no longer the owners of their homes. In Fiscal 1996, the continuing pursuit of outstanding receivables netted the Town $290,000 through December of 1995. Only 69 property owners remained delinquent for Fiscal 1995 real estate taxes as of January 1, 1996. Lien Certificate activity continued to decline in Fiscal 1995 as rising interest rates slowed the refinancings of mortgages. A total of 818 certificates were processed, netting $20,450 to the general fund. The lowering of interest rates by the Federal Reserve late in calendar 1995 and early in 1 996 should bring renewed lien certificate activity. Excise taxes brought considerable revenue to the Town. The increase over estimated figures helped to increase the Town's free cash position at the end of the fiscal year. $1,780,261 was realized, or $379,532 over the Fiscal 1994 collection. The Department of Revenue warns, however, that part of the increase was due to an early billing in May, 1995, which normally would have been released by the Registry of Motor Vehicles in July, 1995. The marking system at the State Registry of Motor Vehicles whereby the Registry does not renew licenses and registrations for delinquent excise tax payers, which is a very effective tool in excise collections. Fiscal 1995 saw a catch up of a back log of such excise bills, and the resulting increase in collections. Data Processing The Data Processing Division serves all Town departments, including those at Town Hall, School, Library, Fire, Police and School. The Town's main computer system, a VAX 1 1-750 was purchased in 1982, and replaced in 1993 with a 3100-80 MICROVAX Software for the Town's operations is written in the ADMINS language, which is a fourth generation C-based language. Administrative functions in the School Department are served by the Town's Data Processing Division, soon to be renamed the Technology Division. Over the years, the Town has added personal computers to replace the "dumb" terminals, which could only be used for VAX related purposes. The PC's can be used as an input device to the main system or as a standalone to use PC based applications such as Lotus, Ami-Pro and D-Base.