Concord Select Board Approves Ten Appointments, Hears Tax Relief Phase-Out Proposal

CONCORD -- April 21, 2026, Concord Select Board receives final report recommending phase-out of town's Residential Tax Exemption. The Tax Relief Evaluation Task Force, co-chaired by Lynn Salinger and Ellen Quackenbush, presented findings showing the RTE shifts $3.2 million of the tax levy annually, with roughly 30 percent, about $960,000, borne by the town's 1,820 rental units at an average of $390 per unit per year. The task force found the RTE effective at reaching low-income homeowners (85 percent receive a tax reduction) but inefficient, with roughly half of all tax reductions flowing to households earning above $150,000. All seven task force members support a two-to-three-year phase-out; they split 4-3 on whether replacement programs, including a proposed 41C½ senior relief mechanism requiring both Town Meeting approval and a town-wide election, must be in place first. The board also voted 4-0 (Clerk Wendy Rovelli abstaining) to appoint Rovelli herself to the MCI Concord Master Plan Committee, after approving a broader slate of nine appointments unanimously. Separately, resident Gail Hire presented a substitute amendment to the planning board's wireless bylaw overhaul, Article 35, ahead of Town Meeting beginning April 27.