MARBLEHEAD – The Select Board asked about the relationship between Patriot Properties, the software provider responsible for the town’s assessment system, and the Board of Assessors at a Select Board meeting.
This investigation followed an incident that caused inaccuracies in the city’s property assessment in 2024, resulting in tax refunds of approximately $541,000.
Select Board Chair Erin Noonan said she had some concerns about continuing to use Patriot Properties because of past software issues.
She asked the chairman of the audit committee, John Kelley and member Jonathan Lederman when they put the contract out to tender to consider other options for evaluation.
Kelley said Patriot Properties has the system and knows the city.
Dan Fox, a member of the special committee, asked the appraisers whether Patriot Properties should “look for some red flags to see what happened in the last year” in case the seller initially missed the errors.
Kelley said the vendor is not responsible for finding these specific errors or making the appropriate assessments.
“So they have nothing to do with the ratings,” Fox said. “Where do they come into play?”
Kelley said the seller is responsible for things like building permits and personal property and, to his knowledge, is not responsible for finding fault.
Noonan said she had some concerns about hiring Patriot Properties a second time and suggested a second vendor, Vision, for consideration.
Lederman said there was “no question” that the Board of Assessors should procure the best possible solution.
“Right now we need as much help as possible to put out the fire,” he said.
Although the panels did not reach a conclusion, Kelley said this issue requires immediate attention.
