Coronavirus (COVID-19) Information
Town Hall has reopened to the public, without the need for an appointment.
An advisory from the MA Department of Public Health (MDPH) has been issued for non-vaccinated and fully vaccinated people to wear a mask in public indoor settings in areas of substantial or high transmission.
Shrewsbury, Worcester County is now categorized as “high” level of community transmission. Therefore, all employees and visitors in all municipal buildings are required to wear a face mask.*
*Exemptions from the Mask Requirement: Those with medical and other eligible conditions.
Departmental Update #3: School Department
The Departmental Update begins HERE in the recording of the November 23, 2021 Board of Selectmen Meeting.
Dr. Joseph Sawyer, Superintendent, Mr. Patrick Collins, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations, and Mr. Jon Wensky, Chairman of the School Committee's presentation summarized the mission, core values, and vision of the School Department, the strategic priorities and planning, their approach to the current year, highlights of Shrewsbury Public Schools, challenges they are facing, space and enrollment and student demographics, and a financial overview.
Mission & Values:
Their mission is, “The Shrewsbury Public Schools, in partnership with the community, will provide students with the skills and knowledge for the 21st century, an appreciation of our democratic tradition, and the desire to continue to learn throughout life.” They summarized their core values; Respect & Responsibility, Collaboration & Communication, Commitment to High Standards & Expectations, and Equity and their vision – explaining their “portrait of a graduate.”
Highlights & Challenges:
Dr. Sawyer explained that the School Department experienced many highlights so far this school year; all students attending full-time and in-person, returned to more of a “normal” student learning opportunities and co-curricular activities, the opening of the new Beal School, and many other successes. They also experienced challenges including, disruptions to learning due to the pandemic, acclimating to a more typical school environment, significant issues with student social, emotional, behavioral, and mental health concerns. The schools have been working to address these challenges.
Financial Overview:
Mr. Collins then discussed the financial overview and how they, like all school districts across the nation and Massachusetts, received federal funds to mitigate the negative financial impact that the pandemic has caused. He explained that these funds have played a critical role in Shrewsbury by providing much-needed support for Shrewsbury Public Schools. He added that they have been careful in planning uses of funds to avoid taking on recurring costs whenever possible and also extending their use for the maximum allowable time.
They expressed that they are grateful for the work of their staff, support from the SPS families and community, and having their students in full-time, in-person school and that they looking forward to partnering with the Board of Selectmen on strategic planning to enhance the future of our community.
The School Department's full presentation can be viewed HERE.
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FY23 Revenue ManualMr. Kevin Mizikar, Town Manager, gave a presentation on the Fiscal Year 2023 Revenue Manual. The presentation detailed the revenue summary, Tax Levy, State Aid, Utility Revenue, Local Receipts, Free Cash, Reduced Levy, and other Available Funds. The total projected revenue for FY23 is $164,140,263. Some of the numbers, like the utility revenue, are premature. For local receipts, the Town is seeing a V-Shaped Recovery. The Town will continue to work to refine the budget estimates. The Town is seeing more resources in FY23 than in FY22, the Town has the benefit of the override and a strong economic recovery in local receipts. The Revenue Manual can be found HERE. The Presentation can be found HERE. | Town of Shrewsbury Financial PoliciesMr. Mizikar summarized the Town’s Financial Policies document and noted the additional section being added to amend the document. It is a policy related to the Override Stabilization Fund. The Override Stabilization Policy – The Town shall fund the Override Stabilization Fund with tax levy dollars in accordance with the requirements of specific commitments of a Proposition 2 ½ override. These funds will be drawn upon by Town Meeting and appropriated into the operating budget to preserve service levels and prolong the duration between Proposition 2 ½ override questions. The Board voted to adopt the Financial Policies as amended. The Town's Financial Policies can be found HERE. | American Rescue Plan Act FundingMr. Mizikar gave a presentation on the projects for the American Rescue Plan Act for an initial round of funding. He noted they are not recommending to use all of the funding of the first tranche and that the use of “Phase I” is the Town’s terminology and it is not tied to any State language. The Town has been allocated $11,515,685. The first tranche, of two, is $5,757,842.43. The Phase I Recommendations are broken down into three categories: - Public Health Response - $1,859,245 - Revenue Loss - $649,335 - Infrastructure - $2,241, 100 This totals to $4,749,680. The individual projects are broken down in Mr. Mizikar’s presentation. The Presentation can be found HERE. |
FY23 Revenue Manual
Mr. Kevin Mizikar, Town Manager, gave a presentation on the Fiscal Year 2023 Revenue Manual. The presentation detailed the revenue summary, Tax Levy, State Aid, Utility Revenue, Local Receipts, Free Cash, Reduced Levy, and other Available Funds. The total projected revenue for FY23 is $164,140,263. Some of the numbers, like the utility revenue, are premature. For local receipts, the Town is seeing a V-Shaped Recovery. The Town will continue to work to refine the budget estimates. The Town is seeing more resources in FY23 than in FY22, the Town has the benefit of the override and a strong economic recovery in local receipts.
The Revenue Manual can be found HERE.
The Presentation can be found HERE.
Town of Shrewsbury Financial Policies
Mr. Mizikar summarized the Town’s Financial Policies document and noted the additional section being added to amend the document. It is a policy related to the Override Stabilization Fund. The Override Stabilization Policy – The Town shall fund the Override Stabilization Fund with tax levy dollars in accordance with the requirements of specific commitments of a Proposition 2 ½ override. These funds will be drawn upon by Town Meeting and appropriated into the operating budget to preserve service levels and prolong the duration between Proposition 2 ½ override questions. The Board voted to adopt the Financial Policies as amended.
The Town's Financial Policies can be found HERE.
American Rescue Plan Act Funding
Mr. Mizikar gave a presentation on the projects for the American Rescue Plan Act for an initial round of funding. He noted they are not recommending to use all of the funding of the first tranche and that the use of “Phase I” is the Town’s terminology and it is not tied to any State language. The Town has been allocated $11,515,685. The first tranche, of two, is $5,757,842.43. The Phase I Recommendations are broken down into three categories:
- Public Health Response - $1,859,245
- Revenue Loss - $649,335
- Infrastructure - $2,241, 100
This totals to $4,749,680. The individual projects are broken down in Mr. Mizikar’s presentation.
The Presentation can be found HERE.
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Fiscal Year 2022 Tax Rate Ms. Ruth Anderson, Principal Assessor, and Mr. Frank B Stille, Chairman of the Board of Assessors presented on the FY2022 Tax Rate for all Property Classifications. The proposed single tax rate, subject to DOR approval is $14.11 per $1,000 of assessed value. The residential market in Shrewsbury remains strong, with properties selling at close to or over asking price, and with less exposure on the market. In 2019 the average sale price of a single family home was $485,733, and through September of 2021, it was $582,670, an increase of nearly 20%. Assessed values increased overall by 7.47%, with single family homes going up by 8.73%, condominiums by 6.56% and multi-families by 10.54%. Commercial values decreased overall by .70%. The levy limit for FY2022 is $90,227,774, and there is excess capacity of $1,431,464. The Board voted to to adopt a residential factor of 1.0 to maintain a single tax rate. They also voted to not adopt a residential exemption and not adopt a small commercial exemption. Ms. Anderson's presentation can be found HERE and her memo can be found HERE. In her presentation she details | 55+ Community Proposal by Greystar Mr. Thom Powers, Powers Realty, Development, and Consulting, LCC, Chris Legocki, Director of Development - Greystar, and representatives from TAT the architectural team, and Allen & Major Associates, Inc, came before the Board of Selectmen to propose a 55 and older "Active Adult" property at 409 South Street in Shrewsbury. Greystar currently has 46 "Active Adult (55+)" communities under development representing approximately 8,500 units. They currently have 34 properties, not just 55+ properties, under management in Massachusetts. Greystar is seeking to partner with the Town of Shrewsbury by submitting a Local Initiative Program (LIP) application to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) with the goal of permitting the project via a Comprehensive Permit through M.G.L. Ch. 40B. Greystar highlighted that this project builds a diverse housing stock of market and affordable units, it is an age restricted community with a low impact to Town infrastructure and systems, and provides a steady stream of tax revenue while also mitigating impact on existing infrastructure. The presentation given by Greystar can be viewed HERE. | Board of Selectmen Policy #25 Extension Board of Selectmen Policy #25 was adopted November 22, 2016 to allow the Water and Sewer Superintendent to grant to Water and Sewer customers partial abatements to offset instances where water was used excessively to remove discoloration caused by manganese accumulation. The discolored water resulting from the manganese accumulation has been reduced because of the new treatment plant and the Town’s water main flushing program. However, various factors including hydraulic and topographic nuances throughout the system are causing prolonged and disproportionate impact on certain sections of the Town. This policy recognizes these contributing conditions and areas of prolonged disproportionate impact and provides some relief relative to the impact on customers. The Town has continued to make progress with the unidirectional flushing program to address and resolve these impacts. The Policy was extended through the end of 2022 and will be revisited by the Board of Selectmen in November of 2022. Board of Selectmen Policy #25 can be viewed HERE. |
Fiscal Year 2022 Tax Rate
The proposed single tax rate, subject to DOR approval is $14.11 per $1,000 of assessed value.
The residential market in Shrewsbury remains strong, with properties selling at close to or over asking price, and with less exposure on the market. In 2019 the average sale price of a single family home was $485,733, and through September of 2021, it was $582,670, an increase of nearly 20%.
Assessed values increased overall by 7.47%, with single family homes going up by 8.73%, condominiums by 6.56% and multi-families by 10.54%. Commercial values decreased overall by .70%.
The levy limit for FY2022 is $90,227,774, and there is excess capacity of $1,431,464.
The Board voted to to adopt a residential factor of 1.0 to maintain a single tax rate. They also voted to not adopt a residential exemption and not adopt a small commercial exemption.
Ms. Anderson's presentation can be found HERE and her memo can be found HERE. In her presentation she details
55+ Community Proposal by Greystar
Greystar currently has 46 "Active Adult (55+)" communities under development representing approximately 8,500 units. They currently have 34 properties, not just 55+ properties, under management in Massachusetts.
Greystar is seeking to partner with the Town of Shrewsbury by submitting a Local Initiative Program (LIP) application to the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) with the goal of permitting the project via a Comprehensive Permit through M.G.L. Ch. 40B.
Greystar highlighted that this project builds a diverse housing stock of market and affordable units, it is an age restricted community with a low impact to Town infrastructure and systems, and provides a steady stream of tax revenue while also mitigating impact on existing infrastructure.
The presentation given by Greystar can be viewed HERE.
Board of Selectmen Policy #25 Extension
The discolored water resulting from the manganese accumulation has been reduced because of
the new treatment plant and the Town’s water main flushing program. However, various factors including hydraulic and topographic nuances throughout the system are causing prolonged and disproportionate impact on certain sections of the Town. This policy recognizes these contributing conditions and areas of prolonged disproportionate impact and provides some relief relative to the impact on customers.
The Town has continued to make progress with the unidirectional flushing program to address and resolve these impacts.
The Policy was extended through the end of 2022 and will be revisited by the Board of Selectmen in November of 2022.
Board of Selectmen Policy #25 can be viewed HERE.
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