3) 🌳Prospect Hill Park Tree Update🌳 Somerville's Parks Department recently released a detailed explanation of their tree management plan for the Prospect Hill Park rehabilitation project. There will be a public meeting to discuss this plan in January 2019 (time/place TBD), and this document provides a detailed and useful, tree-by-tree analysis. Of the 134 trees currently in the park, 45 are proposed to be removed (7 dead, 20 in poor condition, 6 unsafe, and 12 in conflict with the new wheelchair-accessible paths), and 85 new trees will be planted - a net gain of 47 new trees. I'm very thankful to all the advocates who have been so involved in this project, and to the City Staff for providing such a detailed response to community questions and concerns. The tree-specific presentation is here, and the website explaining the overall project is here.



4) Property taxes in a skyrocketing real estate market. Each November, the City Assessor delivers a presentation to the Board of Aldermen outlining the annual property assessments and the resulting tax rates. You can view this year's presentation slides here, and the video of the Board questioning the Assessor here. This year's presentation was truly stark, for one underlying reason: property values in Somerville are absolutely skyrocketing. This trend is true across the board, but particularly dramatic increases are seen among 2- and 3-family building sales near new Green Line stations, which are largely being purchased by developers and/or investors. For example, city-wide, triple-deckers increased in assessed value by ~20% in a single year. In the words of the City Assessor: "This is alarming. In all my years of assessing I've got to admit that I haven't seen...a jump [like this.]" While I know that Somerville residents believe in paying our fair share and investing in our city, dramatic year-to-year increases like this can represent real hardships, and can lead to increased rents as these costs are passed on to tenants.



If you believe that your assessment has gone up unrealistically, I strongly urge you to contact the Assessor's office (before Feb 1) and inquire about an abatement - especially if you haven't done a lot of work on your property, getting an in-person assessment may truly help. And, if you or someone you know is a senior on a fixed-income, please reach out the Assessor's office to discuss options for tax abatement/deferral programs.



Somerville is already at the legal maximum for the two major mechanisms we have to address the issue of residential tax burden (a 35% residential exemption, and the maximum allowable shift onto commercial taxes), and there is no silver bullet. While we will certainly benefit from increased commercial development coming to Somerville, it is also critical to directly address the issue of real estate speculation, and relatedly, tenant protections. The Condo Conversion Ordinance is one important policy we are currently working on, which will help to slow down speculative purchases, and provide much-needed tenant protections. In addition, a Tenants Right to Purchase policy (which would require a Home Rule Petition to enact, unlike the Condo Conversion Ordinance) will be another tool to push back on speculation. I look forward to working on both policies.



5) Construction & GLX Updates. With the enormous amount of infrastructure work occurring (and increasing), the City has built a dedicated website (and email newsletter) specifically to provide updates on the many municipal construction projects and related road closures/traffic. As you know, there will be a number of major (and extremely disruptive) road closures over the next year, including the Ball Sq. bridge, Washington St. underpass, Medford St. at School St., and Somerville Ave. in Union Square. The impact of these closures will be significant, and it is important for residents to have up-to-date information on when and where these projects will occur. One piece of good news: Somerville has secured a contract for a pedestrian shuttle around the detours at Ball Sq. and Washington St. - this will be free for all, and is particularly important for seniors and anyone with mobility issues, and I'm thankful to Alderman Niedergang for leading on this issue.



6) Update on a "passive house" apartment building at 65 Bow St. As I wrote last month, I held a neighborhood meeting regarding a proposed "passive house" (i.e. extremely energy efficient) apartment building at 65 Bow St. I'll be starting a dedicated email list for neighbors and others interested in this development proposal - please let me know if you'd like to be added to that list.



7) Join us at City Hall on Monday, Jan 7th, at 6pm for the Mid-Term "Organizational Meeting" of the Board of Aldermen. We will hear mid-term addresses from the Mayor, Board President Ballantyne, and the Chair of the School Committee, and there will be a public reception afterwards. I have very high hopes for our progress in the coming year - we are working on a number of important issues, including the Condo Conversion Ordinance that I mentioned above, as well as much-needed improvements to our Wage Theft Ordinance to protect workers, finalizing AirBNB regulations, improving transparency around police surveillance equipment, launching a Community Land Trust, the Zoning Overhaul (stay tuned for many more updates and community meetings as we dive back into this process in the coming weeks and months)...just to name a few.



We resume regular Board meetings this coming Thursday, and I invite you to follow along with our schedule here - you can always click on a meeting's link to see the Agenda and all of the relevant documents being discussed. Please don't hesitate to reach out with any questions or concerns, at any time.



Sincerely,



Ben Ewen-Campen, Ward 3 City Councilor (...almost!)