Saugus board pushes one-time assessment

SAUGUS – The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to give residents the opportunity to pay the town’s outstanding $1.1 million snow-and-ice deficit through a one-time property tax assessment.The board unanimously sanctioned setting a Special Town Meeting for March 28, at which Town Meeting members can decide whether to adopt the budget-balancing strategy.If Town Meeting supports the one-time assessment, their decision would be sent to the state Legislature where lawmakers can issue a permit for a special election in April.According to Town Meeting member Peter Manoogian, April 19 is the last day to call for a special election.Other options include an override or imposing a trash fee.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani said the one-time assessment would amount to approximately $84 for a single-family home. The average assessed value of a single-family home in Saugus is $324,000, he explained.”The one-time assessment is an option and seems to be the most popular,” Bisignani said. “It’s an override for the amount of the the town’s ice and snow deficit, which right now stands at $1.1 million and could climb to $1.2 million by the time all the bills come in.”Bisignani said Saugus is predominately single-family homes. “We only have a scattering of two- and four-family homes, so the average is based on single-family home values.”Bisignani thought the public information session on the fiscal 2012 budget, held following Monday night’s Special Town Meeting, went well. “It’s the first time everybody was on the same page,” he said. “I thought it would be good to bring all the parties together. There are several options and we’re all trying to work out a solution.”Bisignani, Manoogian and Town Moderator Robert Long were the three key presents at Monday’s information session.The town manager said a less popular revenue-generating option involves imposing a trash fee. “That’s on the back burner for now,” he said. “Our first choice is certainly not an override, it’s a one-time special assessment.”In voting to set the March 28 Special Town Meeting, Selectman Scott Crabtree emphasized that the matter was time-sensitive. Selectman Michael Serino added, “People are hurting out there. I have no intention of supporting a trash fee or an override. Let’s let the voters decide.”Selectman Stephen Horlick said voters should be provided with all snow and ice bills, categorized by storm since the start of winter. He also stressed that should the town receive reimbursement for any of those storm costs, the money should be deducted from the one-time assessment.Manoogian said the proposed trash fee would be three times the amount of the one-time assessment.