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SPORTS
ANIMAL ALERT
MHS garden party
What to know about coyote breeding season
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MARBLEHEAD, MA PERMIT NO. 25
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January 17, 2024
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VOLUME 2, ISSUE NO. 8
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MARBLEHEADCURRENT.ORG
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ON SOCIAL @MHDCURRENT
VALUATION VEXATION
‘Outrageous’ tax hikes stun homeowners Assessments soar up to 40%, tacking thousands onto bills BY WILL DOWD When Brenda Kelley Kim opened the mail this month, her jaw dropped in disbelief. The town had increased her home’s assessed value by 29% from $649,500 to $836,800 – adding nearly $200,000 overnight. Even with accounting the tax rate decreasing from $10 in Fiscal Year 2023 to $8.96 in Fiscal Year 2024, her taxes shot up about 15
»Market analyst Andrew Oliver explains Marblehead’s property taxes, Page 5. percent, the type of spike that Proposition 21/2 was designed to eliminate. “I looked around my house going, ‘Hey, where’s the addition to justify this?’” said Kim. “Because this is crazy.” Kim soon learned she was far from alone. As tax bills landed in mailboxes across town, a
swarm of baffled homeowners demanded answers. Many took to social media. Harbor Avenue resident David Moran couldn’t fathom how his assessment leapt 32% in one year, tacking about 18% onto his annual property tax bill. “You can’t spring this on
people out of nowhere,” said Moran, a resident for over three decades. “I don’t care what the numbers say — something is fundamentally wrong here.” Compounding the shock that Kim, Moran and others are experiencing is that January tax bills for the third quarter of FY 24 also incorporate the town “catching up” with shortfalls in taxes paid by homeowners in Q1 and Q2, those bills having been
estimated based on the prior year’s assessment. One of Moran’s neighbors on the Neck shared with him an analysis she had performed, seemingly unraveling part of the puzzle. The neighbor found that properties listed with a particular neighborhood code, “3N,” indicating the Neck, had been whacked with a particularly TAXES, P. A2
PUPS TO GO
Teen helps deliver puppies in the back of an SUV on I-95 BY WILL DOWD
Felix Regnault with the puppies he helped deliver in the back of an SUV recently
COURTESY PHOTO
A Marblehead teenager helped deliver 10 puppies in the back of a Chevy Tahoe while traveling on Interstate 95. Felix Regnault, 15, was taking his dog, Kiki, to the vet for a scheduled Cesarean section last month when the Labrador retriever went into labor earlier than expected. “I knew we were in for a ride when the first pup started emerging before we even got on the highway entrance,” said Mary Ellen Fletcher of Swampscott, who shares the dog with Regnault and was driving. Fletcher coached Felix through the delivery. “My initial reaction was concern for Felix, as he’s never witnessed anything like this before, and for our sweet girl, Kiki, in the backseat,” she said. “I’ve never delivered a litter before, but it was quite beautiful to see them,” Regnault said. His initial reaction? Nervousness. “It was definitely, definitely a little bit of panic in the
CURRENT PHOTO / WILL DOWD
The new family bundled up: A cluster of Labrador puppies snuggles together.
beginning,” he said. To keep Kiki healthy, Regnault fed her calcium tablets (which Fletcher kept on hand in case of an early delivery) for energy between puppies. When the supply ran out before reaching the vet, they called fellow dog breeder Steve O’Neill to bring more. He met them in the parking lot outside the vet hospital. PUPPIES, P. A13
RAISING REVENUES
Voters to get their say on local meals, room taxes BY WILL DOWD AND LEIGH BLANDER Town Administrator Thatcher Kezer is proposing a meals and room tax in Marblehead and hopes Town Meeting voters will approve it this May. Kezer discussed the new taxes at a recent Select Board meeting when he previewed several articles he has prepared for Town Meeting. Town departments have until Jan. 26 to submit articles for the Town Meeting warrant. Several of the plans are aimed at creating more income for the town to help close its structural deficit.
BLACK CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW
Kezer is proposing a 0.75% meals tax and up to a 6% tax on rooms. Marblehead could also adopt a short-term rental community impact fee of 3%. “It would generate a really significant amount of revenue that would help take a lot of pressure off of trying to close the structural deficit and get some things done,” Kezer said. “Looking at the hotels and meals is all about trying to take pressure off of a tax increase.” The state already collects sales tax on meals (6.25%) and hotels (5.7%). If adopted locally, the additional tax revenue would be remitted back to
Marblehead on a quarterly basis. Kezer estimates the new taxes could generate $400,000 a year initially, and up to $1 million annually in the future. Peter Conway at the Harbor Light Inn is worried about the tax impacting his business, especially if it’s 6%. “We have a $400 room. If you add six percent on the 5.7% you’re now up to 12%. It’s a big number to add to the cost of staying somewhere.” Conway said the fact that Marblehead hasn’t had a room tax gives him a competitive advantage over hotels in Salem. REVENUE, P. A7
CURRENT PHOTO / LEIGH BLANDER
People staying at the Harborlight Inn could be hit with up to a 6% room tax.