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Town of Douglas, MA

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Town of Douglas, MA TOWN OF DOUGLAS A Review Of The Commonwealth of Massachusetts State Owned Land Reimbursement Program Prepared By: Financial Advisory Associates, Inc. 258 Main Street Buzzards Bay, MA 02532 August 9, 2016 INTRODUCTION: The executive branch of the Town of Douglas became considerably concerned during Fiscal Year 2015 when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (COM) moved to purchase about 346 acres of taxable real property. The COM’s plan was to expand the footprint of the Douglas State Forest. The pending state purchase raised two red flags with the Town’s leaders. One concern was the property the COM targeted was zoned and classified by the town for “Industrial” use. The town’s leaders’ concerns were further founded in the fact that the COM had previously acquired almost 5,500 acres of taxable town property to create the then existing state forest. The COM now owns more than 6,090 acres of land in the Town of Douglas. According to the 2009 data used in the 2010 US Census, the town is approximately 37.89 square miles in size. The new purchase of 346 acres in 2015 by the COM increased the COM’s holdings in Douglas by another 6%. As of the state’s last Douglas real estate conveyances in late June of 2015, more than 25% of the real property located within the Town Of Douglas is now owned by the COM. Given the genuine concerns of the local officials and the magnitude the COM’s holdings in Douglas has on the town’s income, local leaders sought some professional assistance as they endeavored to better understand their roles and responsibilities within the state owned land (SOL) reimbursement process. SCOPE OF PROJECT: This report is the output that resulted from a contract the Town of Douglas sought and executed. The scope of the services provided included: Review of the state’s listing of owned property located in Douglas Reconcile the state’s list with the Town Assessor’s records Review the state’s current valuation methodology Validate the state’s current valuations for its property in Douglas Prepare a presentation regarding our findings Provide a public review of the findings LISTING OF STATE REIMBURSEABLE LAND IN DOUGLAS: Our review began with the COM’s listing of its Douglas properties eligible for reimbursement under MGL Chapter 58. The listing was last valued by the COM in 2013. The valuations are completed every four (4) years. The next valuation will take place in 2017. The property purchased by the COM in June of 2015 is not currently listed on the COM’s 2013 land schedule. As required under the laws of the Commonwealth, the state will provide a 2 | P a g e reimbursement payment to the Town of Douglas for the 2015 purchase as part of their emerging FY 2017 budget. The COM lists and values parcels by city or town and by use or agency. Douglas has two such listings on the COM’s current SOL master list. One of the two COM properties in Douglas is under the control of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). This property is commonly referred to as the Douglas State Forest. The second property listed on the COM’s schedule is under the control of the Department of Fish & Game (DFG). This property serves as a wildlife management area (WMA). The property is commonly called Douglas Mine Brook (WMA). Both of these COM holdings include land in towns that abut Douglas. The COM currently lists the Douglas State Forest as a property with 5,378.48 acres in Douglas. They list twelve (12) separate parcels that make up the overall property. They list the property’s land value at $18,374,800. That valuation converts to a per acre value of $3,416. The COM lists the Douglas Mine Brook (WMA) as a property with 113.13 acres. They list two (2) parcels that make up the Douglas portion of the total property. They value the land for this property at $711,900. That valuation converts to $6,293 per acre. The total state owned land listed in 2013 prior to the recent purchase shows all land in Douglas eligible for the reimbursement program as 5,491.61 acres at a total value of $19,086,700. The total state owned reimbursable land on the 2013 listing is valued at $3,476 per acre. For further detailed information pertaining to the COM’s current State Owned Land listing data please see Appendix Schedule #1. RECONCILIATION OF TOWN OF DOUGLAS ASSESSMENT OF STATE LAND: The Town of Douglas Assessing Department currently lists 127 parcels as part of the Douglas State Forest. The Douglas assessing records tie to the COM records with only minimal rounding variances. Since the COM established the values back in 2013, the town’s FY 2016 values are now actually lower than the value the COM uses for reimbursement payments. The Town has the Douglas State Forest parcels valued in FY 2016 at about $3,113 per acre. The value is about 9% lower than the COM’s current valuation. Finding #1 The state forest valuation by the COM is currently slightly valuing the property higher than the town’s records indicate it should. The COM appears to have a data error. We have advised the Town that the state presently has 22 acres of land that Douglas classifies as “Wet or Waste” classified as “Rear” land. This data error results in a minor state valuation increase that favors the Town’s reimbursement calculation. We recommend the Town verify the variance and if necessary, make the correction with the COM. 3 | P a g e Finding #2 Each of the COM’s listed parcels contains a Local Property ID. We note that the local references in the COM’s listing are deficient. The average reader would be hard pressed to find and identify all of the local listings. For example, the Douglas State Forest’s first parcel listed by the COM provides one Town Parcel ID. In fact, that single COM parcel is comprised of 110 locally listed parcels. We have found other examples of similar parcels on the COM’s master listing. In these listings of similar large parcels in other communities the Local Parcel ID states “Many Maps And Lots”. We have identified five (5) COM parcels in the Douglas State Forest listing with deficient Local Parcel ID’s. We have provided the Town with the corrections for each of the parcel ID errors currently found on the COM’s master schedule. We recommend the Town make the corrections with the COM. Finding #3 The Douglas Mine Brook WMA property is listed on the Town’s assessing roles as three parcels. The Town’s gross FY 2016 land values for this COM property are $6,099 per acre. The town’s current values are about 3% below the COM’s values for annual reimbursement calculations. The COM’s parcel size and classification data for this COM property is exactly the same as the town uses. We have identified one (1) COM parcel in the Douglas Mine Brook (WMA) listing with deficient Local Parcel ID’s. We have provided the Town with the corrections for the parcel ID error on the COM’s master schedule. We recommend the Town make the correction with the COM. For further detailed information pertaining to the COM’s current listing data variances please see Appendix Schedule #2. The additional State Forest property purchases made in Douglas by the COM in 2015 will become part of the COM’s Fiscal Year 2017 reimbursement payment to the Town. The new values have been set by the COM and these values are actually lower than the values set by the Board of Assessors during the fiscal year 2016. We have prepared a schedule that includes the newly expanded State Forest property for the purpose of comparing and contrasting the revised parcel sizes and values between the COM and the Town. We have reviewed the variances and show the two new Town and COM SOL size and value data sets for clarity in this report. 4 | P a g e Finding #4 As a result of our work with the Town’s Assessing Department, we have advised them that the newly purchased COM owned land is valued below the Town’s values. This property should be carefully reviewed by the Town with the COM officials during the next valuation process. For further detailed information pertaining to the COM’s newly emerging State Forest listing data variances with the Town’s listings please see Appendix Schedule #3. TOWN – STATE VALUATION FILE DIFFERENCES As required we have carefully reviewed the COM data sets and the Town data sets pertaining to the COM’s Reimbursement Program. Above we have identified four (4) findings of file differences. We have focused above on the accuracy of the data in both sets. We have also focused upon inclusion variances from one data set to the other. The state and town data sets very closely resemble each other. Finding #5 As a result of our work with the Town’s Assessing Department, we have identified three parcels of COM owned land that are not currently included in the COM’s SOL listing as either a State Forest property or a Mine Brook WMA property. These properties should be carefully reviewed by the Town with the COM officials for inclusion in the SOL Reimbursement Program. Two of these questionable parcels were bought by the COM in 1960. They are both listed by the Town as Department of Environmental Management (DEM) properties.
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