Board of Aldermen 09-28-2021 Page 25
important issue. It's been a very long time since we've had an update. | did address this with the Mayor at the coffee in
July. He did believe that September would be the month we could have that update.
And | want to let you Know as I've gone around campaigning and speaking to citizens, the senior citizens are most very
concerned. They're very concerned about what's going to happen with their property values at this next revaluation and |
think they have good reason to be very concerned. | think there should be some creative thinking done here on how
we're going to address that and how you're going to address the tax exemption for those folks or broadening something
out that would encompass more than what we currently have. You know | really think this is an important issue and | think
the citizens deserve to have an understanding of what's going on with Vision. They've collected six months of data.
There's only another six months left before the model is developed and the information is rolled out and it would be nice to
know if those numbers are going to come out in the July tax bill or if we're going to wait until December. But | think the
sooner we can prepare people for what's going to happen next year the better because you'll See escrow accounts on
some of these houses change by $1,000s, $2,000, $3,000, $4,000 bucks and you can't afford to see that in December
when your bill is due next year. | think we owe it to them to give a heads up. That's as long as possible so they can save
and understand what's going to go on here if there is this shift between the commercial and residential properties.
Also, | think we have a long way to go and listening to the public and the city owning and taking responsibility when
mistakes are made. The letter read by Miss Kleiner was so very disappointing because it shows that the city takes no
responsibility for what went on in that Assessing Department and how an assessment was handled. And given the short
staffing. | am extremely concerned about the Legal office having involvement with...
Donna Graham, Legislative Affairs Manager
Thirty seconds.
Laurie Ortolano
... abatements particularly residential abatements because when they hold a grudge an this Mayor and this Corporate
Counsel decided to go after somebody that they don't like by some affiliation, it becomes an all-out pitch battle and a lot of
money is spent. And that's the personality of these people and that's going to happen because you don't have assessors
down there to handle abatements that are going to roll in in 30 days. Very, very concerning to me how that's going to be
addressed. Thank you.
President Wilshire
Anyone else? | don't see anyone online or on Zoom. Okay.
REMARKS BY THE MEMBERS OF THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN
Alderman Jette
Yes thank you, Madam President. In spite of my meager attempt to humor at the beginning of the meeting, | would like to
thank whoever this anonymous donor is who is willing to donate $1 million and | want to compliment the fundraising
committee that obtained that pledge and a lot of other pledges. Every dollar that the committee raises from voluntary
contributions are dollars that the city and the taxpayers don't have to come up with. So | applaud their efforts and
congratulate them on that.
| also wanted to mention, | wanted to compliment the New Hampshire Symphony which is beginning its new season.
They have a concert this Thursday at the Riverwalk and then a larger, more formal thing at the Keefe Auditorium next
week. | wanted to compliment them because | read that they have instituted a policy where they're going to require
people to show proof of vaccination before they can enter the building. And in addition to that, everyone is going to have
to wear a mask, whether you're vaccinated - well you can't get in unless you're vaccinated. But even if you are
vaccinated, you still have to wear a mask. They're taking responsibility for this. If you bought a ticket and you show up
and you can't prove that you're vaccinated or you don't want to wear a mask for whatever reason, children under 12, who
can't get a vaccine will not be allowed to attend. So no one who was who is not vaccinated and will not wear a mask will
be allowed in the building. So | applaud — and if you bought a ticket, they'll refund your money. So they're taking
responsibility financial and otherwise to help us deal with this pandemic and my hat is off to them for that. Thank you.
Alderwoman Lu
Thank you. | also want to congratulate the fundraising committee. They have done a great job and thank you Philip
