The Everett City Council got its first public look on Monday, August 3 at a proposed five-year payment in lieu of taxes agreement with Distrigas of Massachusetts, the liquefied natural gas terminal on Rover Street, and decided it was not ready to vote. After an executive session on legal strategy, the council postponed the item to its September 14 meeting.
The deal would set the terminal’s assessed value at $127 million for five years. In exchange, Distrigas would drop every pending tax appeal it has filed against the city at the state Appellate Tax Board, appeals that go back about six years.
Why the city wants it
David Klebanoff, the outside attorney who represents the Board of Assessors on the appeals, told the council the terminal’s value swings wildly from year to year because of the contracts that keep it open. When the Mystic generating station closed, Distrigas was expected to close with it. Instead, Boston Gas and other distributors signed five-year supply contracts, approved by the Department of Public Utilities, that make the property far more valuable now than it will be as the contracts run out.
Valued on those contracts, he said, the property might be worth $180 million in the first year and $30 million in the last. The agreement averages that out. “You get 10 years of peace from them and a set value where you can do your planning,” he said. The tax rate would still apply to the $127 million figure each year, so if the rate goes up, so does the bill.
Omar Boukili, the city’s chief financial officer, called it “probably the best case scenario for us” because it removes the risk of losing at the tax board and having to refund money with interest.
Why councilors balked
Ward 1 Councilor Michele Capone, sworn in in January, asked how long the dispute had been going on and why this was the first time the council was hearing about it. Klebanoff said the appeals had been pending for six or seven years but the idea of settling them with an agreement was only a month or two old. “Today is August 3rd, and it was the last day to pay taxes for most of the taxpayers in Everett,” Capone said. “We try to make special arrangements for large companies, and we don’t think about the regular taxpayers.”
Ward 2 Councilor Stephanie Martins said she had understood the council was only reviewing a draft and objected to being asked to vote the same night. Councilor-at-Large Guerline Alcy Jabouin asked whether the city does the same for residents who cannot pay. Klebanoff said state law limits these agreements to energy generation and storage property, so the answer is no.
Councilor-at-Large Michael Marchese asked what happens if Distrigas lands a new contract in year four. The agreement does not carry forward, Klebanoff said; the city and the company would meet again as the fifth year approaches.
Also at the meeting
- Firefighter Sean Hogan was promoted to lieutenant on an 8-0 vote and sworn in by City Clerk Sergio Cornelio with his family in the chamber.
- Norilyz Valentin was confirmed as the city’s director of information technology for a three-year term.
- Lauri Medeiros was appointed to the Everett Disability Commission through September 2029.
- The council ordained an amendment to the building permit fee ordinance, 10-0.
- Councilors called the state primary election for Tuesday, September 1, polls open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m., with early voting beginning two weeks before.
- Taqueria Don Roge at 1739 Revere Beach Parkway had its extended-hours license renewed, and SSS Auto Group LLC won a Class 2 used-car dealer license at 153 Ferry Street.
- A $10,000 donation from the Everett Foundation for Aged Persons to the Council on Aging was accepted. Capone recused herself as vice chair of the foundation.
Public comment: speeding on Main Street
Ward 6 resident Stephanie Hamlin DuBois told the council that three cats were hit and killed on Main Street within two days, including one she had cared for for five years, and asked the city to treat speeding near Rocco’s funeral home and the charter school bus stop as a safety problem. She also asked the Department of Public Works to restore a seven-day holding period and an identification log for dead animals it collects, so owners of missing pets can get answers. Her husband, Earl DuBois, said a photograph would have told them whether the cat that was picked up was theirs.
Councilor Holly Garcia reminded residents that National Night Out was the following evening, August 4, at Glendale Park from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
The full meeting transcript and video are available through the city’s Munitrac page.
