To the editor:

The Swampscott Board of Assessors is an authoritative board composed of three elected officials. As board members, we have taken an oath prescribed by Massachusetts General Law to assess taxes related to property valuation for the purpose of taxation within the Town of Swampscott. 

Recently, our town administrator proposed a warrant article to amend the Town Charter and make the Board of Assessors an appointed, rather than an elected, board. While we were pleased that in the April 10 meeting, the Select Board immediately voted against this proposal, there were several comments made by Town Administrator Sean Fitzgerald that alluded to members of our board being incompetent and lacking expertise and experience. Select Board member Peter Spellios stated that there are concerns with our performance.

Neil Sheehan, vice chair of the Board of Assessors, has served on the board for 25 years, serving as chair for at least 10 of those. Prior to this, he served on the Board of Assessors in Burlington for eight years. In total, he has more than 33 years of experience as an assessor. Neil has been a member of numerous assessing organizations beginning in 1989, including the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers, the Essex County Assessors Association, and the Middlesex County Assessors Association. He has attended more than 18 conferences through the Massachusetts Association of Assessing Officers, continuing his education.

Tasia Vasiliou, chair of the board, has been a member for seven years. She has been a certified real estate appraiser since 2003 and appraised countless homes throughout Massachusetts. She currently works for a mutual bank where she orders, reviews, and signs off on all the appraisals for their commercial loans secured by real estate. She has taken numerous commercial and residential appraisal courses and is well-versed in the various approaches to developing property value. She previously worked for a national appraisal management company managing both the quality control and appraiser performance departments.

Lara Goodman, secretary of the board, has served on the board for three years. Every board should have a member that brings the voice of its stakeholders to the table, and Lara does just that. She is well-informed of property transactions in town, fair-minded, and balanced. She has served the community as a Town Meeting member, School PTO president, as an employee at the Jewish Community Center and a teacher for the Swampscott Recreation Department.

We have all completed a detailed assessment administration course provided by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue that covers laws, procedures, and valuation methods specific to our responsibilities as municipal assessors and are each certified by the state to classify land. 

Mr. Fitzgerald expressed concerns with continuity and stability. Our service time on the board speaks for itself, with 35 years of combined service between us. It is ironic that this was brought up as a weakness of the board. In fact, the lack of continuity and stability has been with Town Hall. In the past five years, the Town of Swampscott has employed three different directors of assessing and Swampscott is one of very few towns in Massachusetts to employ part-time assessing staff. We, the Board of Assessors, bring the stability.

The town administrator cited “reduced polarization” as another reason for an appointed board. Concerns the town administrator and town counsel have with our work were referred to. To be clear, the board is a cohesive board. All polarization that has existed has been with Town Hall due to a lack of respect for the authority of the board. The Board of Assessors has not been provided with any concerns from town counsel.

The Board of Assessors has requested the involvement of our governing authority, the Department of Revenue. We are looking forward to the Department of Revenue’s involvement and our hope is all parties will come to the table, open and receptive to following the Department of Revenue’s guidance, the Swampscott Town Charter, and Massachusetts General Laws. In the end, our goal is to ensure taxpayers are treated equitably. We will continue to put all our efforts into working toward this goal.

The Swampscott Board of Assessors

Tasia Vasiliou, Chairperson

Neil Sheehan, Vice Chairperson 

Lara Goodman, Secretary