Sudbury Select Board sets 1.40 tax shift, rejects two exemptions

SUDBURY -- December 3, 2024, Sudbury Select Board sets 1.40 tax shift, trims "abide by" line from new code of conduct. The board voted 5-0 to set a fiscal 2025 residential factor of 0.9705 with a CIP shift of 1.40, supporting Principal Regional Assessor Harold Sheed's plan to raise $109,827,875, a 4.4 percent levy increase that leaves $20,345 in excess capacity. Average residential values rose 3.7 percent; multifamily fell 6.8 percent on a successful abatement. The board rejected residential and small commercial exemptions and capped the senior means-tested exemption at one-half of 1 percent of the residential levy, covering 83 seniors at roughly $340,000. On a 3-2 vote, the board adopted the MIIA code-of-conduct template without language directing members to "abide by all decisions of the committee once they are made," with Town Counsel Lee Smith noting First Amendment concerns; Charlie Russo and Dan Carty dissented. The board accepted a metal sculpture for the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail 4-1, Russo opposed.