Town Council Holds Listening Session on Possible Changes in Town Government.
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Approves Single Tax Classification and Hazard Mitigation Plan
Report on the Meeting of the Town Council, October 19, 2026
This was a hybrid meeting held in Town Hall. It was recorded.
Present
Mandi Jo Hanneke (President, at large), Andy Churchill (at large), Jill Brevik and Cathy Schoen (District 1), Lynn Griesemer and Amber Cano-Martin (District 2), Hala Lord and George Ryan (District 3), Jennifer Taub and Pam Rooney (District 4), Sam MacLeod and Ana Devlin Gauthier (District 5). Absent: Ellisha Walker (at large).
Staff: Paul Bockelman (Town Manager) and Athena O’Keeffe (Clerk of Council)
Input Solicited on Possible Changes to Town Government
The town council meeting opened with a listening session on possible structural changes in town government that had been raised by the 2024 Charter Review Committee after considering public feedback, but that fell outside its purview.
These were listed in a section of the committee’s final report entitled “Beyond the Charter,” and included:
- Adopting a mayor/council government
- Returning to Town Meeting/select board government
- Having a smaller Town Council
- Lengthening and staggering the terms of elected officers
- Allowing council to increase line items on the manager’s budget without changing the overall budget
- Electing, rather than appointing, members of the Planning Board, Zoning Board of Appeals, and resident members of the Finance Committee
Clerk of Council Athena O’Keeffe, the staff liaison to the Charter Review Committee, introduced the listening session, saying the purpose was for residents to share how they feel about the proposals, but that the council had no intent to decide on any of them at this meeting. She explained that the Massachusetts Home Rule authority allows municipalities to change their own government, and Amherst has done so in the past—most recently in 2016 when residents voted to change from a representative Town Meeting form of government to a town council and town manager system. After a two-year process, residents adopted the current form of government.
The town charter mandates that the charter be reviewed in every year ending in a “4”, so the 2024 Charter Review Committee was formed. After meeting for 18 months and collecting comments and feedback from residents, they presented 22 recommended changes to the government. Council committees are now evaluating these recommendations and conducting legal review for possible adoption. Implementing the suggestions discussed at this council meeting would require special legislation and a town-wide vote.
O’Keeffe said public comments need not be confined to the six topics above, but can address whatever commenters feel would improve the town’s system of government.
Several residents made comments.
Vince O’Connor advocated for library and school representatives to participate earlier in the budgetary process. He also wanted councilors and the public to bring items before the council without first going through years of discussion, as with the current waste hauler reform issue, which was first submitted in 2021 and has been languishing in committees. He also stressed that the regional school district is not a town department and should be able to set its own budget. Finally, he objected to the $10,000 salary town councilors receive as too high.
Darcy Dumont said the Charter Review Committee did not consider many of the recommendations from Amherst’s League of Women Voters Charter Review Task Force, despite the League’s extensive study and collected feedback, including over 200 resident comments. She also felt the town charter gives too much power to the Town Manager, an unelected official, and named town meeting as the purest form of democracy.
Ira Bryck spoke for a mayor-council form of government with strong safeguards to exclude political action committees and party-line politics. He did not advocate returning to a town meeting form of government, which he felt was cumbersome and inefficient. Instead, he wanted to lengthen elected officials’ terms to staggered five-year terms. He also favored election of Planning Board, ZBA, and Finance Committee members.
Meg Gage, a member of both the original Charter Commission and the 2024 Charter Review Committee, thought there were too many big issues facing the town right now to consider major governance changes. She praised the Charter Review Committee members for listening to each other and being respectful throughout the process.
Hilda Greenbaum asked that people attending meetings on Zoom be known to one another, saying this can be done securely and could avoid the risk of Zoom bombing.
Erika Mijlin, vice-chair of the Charter Review Committee, disputed the charge that the League of Women Voters recommendations were not considered. She noted the challenge of getting people to attend listening sessions (few attended the Charter Review Committee’s listening sessions) and felt it would be a mistake to interpret that as “a lack of interest or engagement.” She stressed the need for better communication of priorities and agendas by the council, saying she only learned of this listening session by chance. She concluded, “We want people to volunteer, and we want people to know what we’re doing as a council. How do we do that? How do we open the door?”
Amherst Will Keep Single Tax Rate for FY28
As in previous years, the charter requires annual certification of property tax classification, and this resulted in the council voting to keep its single tax rate for residential, commercial, industrial, and personal property. The 1978 state Classification Act requires all municipalities to classify property, and the town charter requires a public hearing annually.
This year’s presentation by Assessor Kim Mew was almost identical to previous years, and her recommendation, along with those of the Board of Assessors and the Town Manager, was unchanged: keep the single tax classification.
Because 88.9% of Amherst properties are residential (including apartment buildings) and only 6% are commercial, a split tax rate with residential properties paying less would mean much higher taxes on commercial properties while minimally changing residential rates. The town’s total tax levy must remain unchanged.
If the town adopted a split tax rate, the state allows exemptions from higher commercial tax rates for small businesses (10 or fewer employees and less than $1 million in value), owner-occupied residences, and open space. Mew said that for small businesses that rent space, the exemption would go to the property owner, who might not pass the savings to the business. Chapter 61 (farmland protection) covers the tax on open space (undeveloped property, such as farms or vacant lots), so adopting a split tax rate would not affect it.
The residential exemption exempts up to 35% of the value of owner-occupied residential properties from taxes, which would shift the tax burden to rental properties but would also increase taxes on properties deeded to family members or trusts when the person on the deed is not in residence.
Mew said that only 16 communities in the state have this exemption, and those are around Boston and the Islands. She cited the considerable work required to verify each property’s ownership and residency to implement the residential exemption, and said adopting the exemption might adversely affect renters if the tax increase were passed along to them, and elderly residents who pass their property to relatives while still living there.
All properties, regardless of classification, will pay increased taxes to cover the debt exclusion voted to build the new elementary school.
Although, as in past years, some councilors encouraged Mew to explore the residential exemption by contacting communities that use it, Mew maintained there wasn’t enough time to implement the exemption for FY28.
In public comment, Hilda Greenbaum asked if a house in a trust would be eligible for the residential exemption. Mew answered that it would qualify only if the resident were on the deed as well as the trust.
Zain Salim wanted to know if the open space exemption would apply to some of the land at Hampshire College, but Mew said that the town does not use that exemption.
The single tax classification for FY28 without the exemptions was passed unanimously on the consent agenda.
Amherst Will Apply to Join Mayors for Peace Network
The council voted unanimously to apply for membership in the Mayors for Peace Network. Council sponsor George Ryan and community sponsor Bruce Stedman said that Mayors for Peace was formed in 1982 and now has members in 166 countries and 8.600 communities. It advocates for the total abolition of nuclear weapons. Several communities in Western Massachusetts have already joined.
The application form is short, and the membership fee is $13. The network’s president is the mayor of Hiroshima, and the vice president is the mayor of Nagasaki. The group sponsors a children’s art project and plants seedlings descended from trees that survived the World War II bombings.
Stedman said that Representative Jim McGovern and Senator Ed Markey are leaders in the national congressional campaign against nuclear weapons. Town Meeting declared Amherst a nuclear free zone in 1984, and Stedman maintained that we are closer to nuclear war today than we were in 1984. “There is no mitigation for nuclear war,” he said, “only prevention.”
Updated Hazard Mitigation Plan Accepted
The council unanimously accepted the new Hazard Mitigation Plan. Fire Chief Lindsay Stromgren told the councilors that the hazard mitigation plan identifies potential hazards to the town from natural disasters and addresses them. The hazards are listed by likelihood in Amherst, and many mitigation measures fall under the DPW’s purview, such as repairing culverts to prevent flooding and road washouts.
The town can do little to prevent droughts or wildfires, Stromgren said, but it can be ready for them. He said that having a hazard mitigation plan makes the town eligible for hazard mitigation grants. Amber Cano-Martin wanted assurance that any federal grants would not require the town to cooperate with ICE. Town Manager Paul Bockelman said the town does consider that, but most hazard grants come from the state.
Beyond mitigation, Stromgren said the town is working on preparedness, including developing a “full-fledged sheltering plan.” This disaster preparedness is beyond the hazard mitigation plan’s scope.
Sam MacLeod suggested that UMass and Amherst College should be part of a sheltering plan, and Bockelman suggested the new Amethyst Brook Elementary School, which can generate its own power.
Pam Rooney emphasized the need to educate the public and town employees on how to respond to an emergency. Stromgren said the town has a reverse 911 system to alert people to an emergency and is working with Communications Director Sam Giffen on other ways to alert people.
Affordable Housing Restriction Removed from Deepwoods Drive House
Heather Anderson purchased her home on Deepwoods Drive in 2008 using a $50,000 first-time homeowner grant funded by the Community Preservation Act and Community Development Block Grant. The grant required her to sell the home to an income-qualified buyer. However, after more than a year of trying to sell the property, she has been unable to find a suitable buyer so she can move to another state to be near her daughter. She is asking the council to relieve her of the restriction. After a public hearing, the council unanimously voted to grant her request.
Planning and Economic Development Director Jeff Bagg, advocate Mary Ellen Shea, and Valley Community Development Corporation Director of Programs Sarah Sargent supported her request. Bagg partially blamed the town, saying staff did not prioritize Anderson’s desire to sell, so a potentially eligible buyer’s application fell through. He noted that, under the current program, the resale restriction expires after 15 years, and Anderson has lived in her house for 18 years.
Councilors were sympathetic to Anderson’s request since she tried to abide by the terms of her agreement.
Four homeowners purchased houses under the same program. One has already sold the property, and two others still occupy theirs. Bagg said the Planning Department will re-evaluate how it handles requests to sell in the future so it can address the situation more quickly.
Sargent said that the sharp rise in house prices has made it increasingly difficult to find buyers who meet income requirements and still qualify for a mortgage. The income range is very narrow, she stated.
Bylaw Review Committee to Include Members of ECAC, HRC, and Finance Committee
Only two applications have been received for the five-member Bylaw Review Committee. O’Keeffe suggested that the Governance, Organization, and Legislation Committee (GOL) include one member each from the Energy and Climate Action Committee, the Human Rights Commission, and a resident member of the Finance Committee to fill the committee.
Cathy Schoen worried that members of the other committees, particularly the Finance Committee, would be overextended and unwilling to take on the extra work, but O’Keeffe said one member was interested.
The proposal passed unanimously. GOL is still accepting applications for the Bylaw Committee, but this provision should allow a five-member committee to be formed.