Millville to auction off town land

community strapped Cashto put 9 townowned parcels up for bid at Oct. 30 auction

MILLVILLE — The town is putting nine townowned parcels up for auction on Oct. 30, which town officials are hoping will bring in some needed revenue for the cash-strapped community.

The town is collaborating with Paul Zekos, head of the Zekos Group, Municipal Auction Strategies of Shrewsbury, which will host the live auction at 11 a.m. at Town Hall, 290 Main St. Bidder registration starts at 10:30 a.m.

Each of the nine parcels – a combination of residential- and commercial-zoned properties – require a deposit of $10,000, and bidders are required to have positive identification and the deposit in the form of a bank check to qualify to bid. The properties will be sold as is.

Town officials say the goal of the auction is to bring in money to the town’s general fund and put the properties back into private, taxpaying hands. Zekos’ company has worked with 81 municipalities and has several years of experience conducting municipal auctions of tax possession properties. The auction company will receive a percentage of the money the town receives.

The town is looking at all possibilities as it struggles to close a massive $300,000 structural deficit and balance the town operating budget. To do that the town has been forced to implement significant cuts in service, including eliminating municipal trash service; closing the Senior Center

and laying off all its employees; shutting off 64 percent of the town’s street lights; cutting all stipends; eliminating vacant positions; reducing town hall department hours; and laying off a full-time firefighter.

In May, annual town meeting voters overwhelmingly passed a town operating budget contingent on the passage of a $1 million Proposition 2½ operational override at a special election June 19, but the override failed. That means the town must now implement significant cuts in service in order to balance this year’s budget.

The override was being sought by the selectmen, Finance Committee and administration as part of a strategic financial plan to right-size the budget and reset the tax rate to address ongoing operational deficits due to continued use of one-time revenues to fund increases to the school budget.

The Finance Committee had proposed two town operating budgets at the annual town meeting back in May – an override-contingent budget of $6,343,733 and a $6,183,222 budget with no override – depending on the outcome of the override vote.

The selectmen and Finance Committee repeatedly warned that the town could no longer balance the budget by using one-time “rainy day” revenues, which is why they advocated for the override. The tax override, they say, would have right-sized the budget and provided increases in the tax rate phased in over eight years to balance future budgets.

But a majority of the voters who went to the polls on June 19 rejected the measure by a vote of 589 to 339. The override would have permanently added $1 million to the town’s tax levy, which would have resulted in a total tax increase of approximately $1,415 over a period of eight years for the average $250,000 single-family household.

With the $6,183,222 budget with no override now in play, officials are tasked with making further cuts in the budget to close the deficit, which could entail laying off essential personnel, including police officers, firefighters and town hall staff.

The nine parcels up for auction on Oct. 30, include:

• 92 Hill St., a 7.9-acre parcel with significant frontage and the potential for residential approval-not-required lots. The parcel is across from Ash Lane and close to the Blackstone town line.

• 226 Main St. (Route 122), which is over one acre with frontage on Route 122 and Chestnut Hill Road. The parcel offers three-phase electrical and is suitable for business development.

• 20 Depraitre St., a 5.3-acre parcel offering extensive frontage that abuts the Blackstone town line. The site has the potential for multiple lots.

• 67, 73, 77 and 81 Harkness Road, which is comprised of four contiguous land parcels totaling 6.45 acres. Located across from Willerval Avenue and the Rhode Island border, the parcel is offered for residential development.

• 446 Chestnut Hill Road and adjacent 69 Hill St., an expansive site that includes two contiguous parcels totaling 20.2 acres. It has subdivision potential and includes frontage on two roads.

• 210 Chestnut Hill Road, a gently sloping 9.2-acre wooded parcel close to Killiney Woods. It offers adequate frontage for probable approval-not-required lots.

• 35 and 37 Central St., two contiguous commercial parcels totaling .25 acres. This corner parcel also provides frontage on Bow Street, sits across from the U.S. Post Office and was the former site of a restaurant.

• 57 Kempton Road, an 8.6acre wooded parcel located in a residential area near the Uxbridge town line. It has extensive frontage and offers potential approval-not-required lots.

• 196 Central St., a 2.2-acre parcel located near the Rhode Island border. The front portion of the parcel is zoned commercial business.