CLARKSBURG, Mass. — Property owners will again see the tax rate drop — and may also see their bills drop as well. 

 

The Select Board on Monday night voted after a tax classification hearing to again maintain a single tax rate. Members also interviewed the first candidate for the town administrator post, former Select Board Chair Ronald Boucher.

 

The average single-family home as increased in value by $13,000, from  $222,151 to $235,243. Using the figures provided, the tax rate should drop from $15.35 per $1,000 assessed value to $13.58.

 

Last year's average single-family home bill was $3,410; this year's is estimated at $3,194, a nearly $200 reduction.

 

Assessor Emily Schilling said the total value of the town is up nearly $9 million over last year, from $158,167,883 to $167,259,371. The bulk of that, just over 95 percent, is residential. The town has 613 single-family homes and 63 other types of residential properties.

 

The amount of taxes to be raised for fund the town's $6.177 million fiscal 2025 budget is $2,271,382. The balance is being funded through state and local receipts, enterprise funds and some $499,371 in free cash. 

 

The board also appointed Thomas Bona to the Board of Assessors. Bona has volunteered a lot of time with projects at the school.

 

Chair Robert Norcross said he'd told Bona that "we have to have a full board of assessor in order for the state to accept our tax rate. ... I told him that it wasn't a lot of time, but that it was really necessary."

 

The town is seeking a new town administrator after the board declined to renew the contract of Carl McKinney, whose three-year term ends this month. Board members said they'd received 16 to 20 applications and are interviewing three or four that have the qualifications. 

 

Boucher spent about 30 minutes discussing the goals and issues with the board; two more candidates are set to be interviewed next week. 

 

He presented himself as an experienced salesman and manager who could prioritize the tasks at hand and lean on a wide network for advice and information. He said communication was imperative and that it had to be "we" not "I."

 

"I understand the intricacies of this town. What it takes," Boucher said, noting he'd run the town for eight months between administrators. "You need an individual that's going to be out and about, out in front of people ... maximizing the resources. ...

 

"The important part of being a town administrator is you're the salesman of this town. You go out and how do you present yourself to individuals? First impressions are last. Let's face it, it's always been that way you only get one shot sometimes."

 

The former North Adams City Council president moved to Clarksburg in 2017, was appointed to the Finance Committee and then was elected to the Select Board in 2018. He's also served on the Planning Board and as moderator.

 

He was board chair in 2019 when McKinney quit over what he said was the town's failure to abide by his contract and then left himself in 2021 citing family and work demands a week after a contentious meeting over Town Hall staff responsibilities. 

 

Boucher said he'd had a good relationship with the school superintendent when he was on the board and with the state representative. 

 

"The job I have now, I travel, I deal with corporate people all the time. I have a book of business that's $10 million so it's twice the size of this budget in this town," he said. "I have to put proposals together. I have got to sell myself and sell my company."

 

Boucher said Clarksburg had to sell itself and maximize it's resources — even suggesting that maybe it would be better to split the job into a part-time grant writer and a part-time administrator. 

 

"I think I have the time, and I have the driven ability, because you've got to change the course of how Clarksburg is. Because all I ever hear about Clarksburg is we're poor, we're poor, we don't have any money," he said. "That's BS in so many ways, because you've got to change that narrative, and you've got to be aggressive, you got to be able to go after the grants. ... you've got to sell yourself."