Southwick Select Board Flags Valuation Gap in WGI Tax Incentive Deal Before Town Meeting

SOUTHWICK -- May 4, 2026, Southwick Select Board stalls WGI tax break ahead of Town Meeting over unresolved valuation dispute. The board took up a proposed 10-year tax increment financing agreement for WGI, an aircraft engine repair and maintenance company operating in the town's industrial park, but declined to finalize the warrant article after Town Assessor Randall Austin disclosed that his CAMA analysis valued the company's planned 60,000-square-foot building at $6.5 million, roughly $5.5 million below WGI's own stated construction cost of $12 million. At $6.5 million in building value plus $5.7 million in depreciated personal property, Austin estimated the TIF would yield $728,460 in total tax savings over the decade, based on a three-year average tax rate of $14.42. Board member Douglas Moglin, who led negotiations with Town Administrator Nicole Parker, said the numbers "need to be reconciled" before the article goes to print, noting that whatever figure voters approve at Town Meeting is locked in permanently. The board also approved $44,340 in reserve fund transfers for public safety electricity and fuel, directed Parker to ask Eversource to explain unexpectedly high electricity costs at the police and fire buildings, and approved a three-year animal control services agreement with Agawam at $15,000 per year.