Southwick Assessors Table $275,000 Overlay Transfer, Demand Reassessment Funding Commitment

SOUTHWICK -- May 11, 2026, Southwick assessors unanimously table a $275,000 overlay transfer, demanding reassessment commitments before releasing funds. The Board of Assessors voted 3-0 at its May 11 meeting to hold the release of roughly $275,000 in unencumbered overlay surplus from fiscal years 2021 and 2022, after Director of Assessing Randall Austin confirmed that neither a real estate revaluation project nor a personal property reassessment had been funded in the fiscal year 2027 budget. Chair John Cain framed the sign-off as the board's primary leverage: "This is our only negotiating tool to do our jobs properly without making it more costly to the residents of the town." Member Bill Brown noted the surplus "appears to be the most funds we will have available in the next six years." The board also advanced discussion of lowering the senior property tax exemption age threshold from 70 to 65, an article already on the town meeting warrant, and explored increasing veterans' exemption amounts under the state's 2024 HEROES Act, which permits communities to raise those awards by up to 100 percent.