New City Manager Fidel Maltez is encouraging Chelsea residents to volunteer their time on one of the city’s boards or commissions.
“We want to reinvigorate the boards and commissions,” said Maltez. “Boards and commissions play a big role in setting policy for the city and it’s really a good way to get involved. The city of Chelsea has a wide breadth of boards and commissions, whether it is the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, whether it is the Board of Health, there is the Community Preservation Committee; we are always looking for volunteers.”
Volunteering for a board or commission is not only a good way to get involved, but it’s a good way for residents with various skills and strengths to give back to the community, Maltez said.
“The key is to get involved; government certainly cannot operate in a vacuum,” said Maltez. “We can’t know what every resident knows, so what we do is we seek a diverse pool of volunteers that can bring all of the voices to the table.”
Through June 30 of this year, openings will occur in the following Boards and Commissions:
• Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board
• Board of Registrars of Voters
• Community Recreation Advisory Board
• Conservation Commission
• Cultural Council
• Chelsea Disability Commission
• Economic Development Board
• Historical Commission
• Licensing Commission
• Planning Board
• Traffic & Parking Commission
• Tree Board
• Human Rights Commission
All of these Boards have three-year terms except for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Board, which is a two-year term and the Economic Development Board, which is a five-year term.
Those interested in applying should send both a letter of interest and a resume either by mail to the City Manager, Chelsea City Hall, 500 Broadway, Chelsea, Massachusetts 02150 or by email to [email protected]. Materials should be received by the close of business on Friday, February 3, 2024.
Even if the immediate positions are filled, Maltez said he would like to keep all the letters of interest on file for when there are future openings.
In other City Hall news, the City Assessors’ Office has updated information on its website for residents, including forms for taxpayer applications, updated tax rate information and more. The FY 24 residential tax rate is $11.90 per thousand, the Commercial/Industrial/Personal Property Tax Rate is $23.75 and the Residential Exemption is $3,018.03 in tax dollars that equates to $253,616 in assessed value.
The Taxpayer Applications page includes updated forms for FY24 38D (Apartment, Mixed-Use and Commercial/Industrial), a new Form of List, CPA Abatement, Real Estate / Personal Abatement and the 3ABC form for charitable organizations.
New and updated information is also available on the Real Property Data page and Personal Property Information page.
The city recently announced that its Senior Tax Work-Off Program and Veterans Tax Work-Off Program application period is now open. Jobs include clerical tasks and various office duties. The two Tax Work-Off Programs are offered by the City of Chelsea to help financially eligible seniors and veterans receive a reduction off of their annual real estate taxes. The deadline for all applications is Jan. 31. For further information, contact Denia Romero at (617) 466-4170 or [email protected].
The city’s local census forms in the mail. City officials are asking residents to fill it out, sign it and mail it back to confirm their address at their earliest convenience. These annual forms gather resident information for an Annual Street list and confirms voter registration status. If these forms are not completed, voters will be moved to an “inactive voter list,” which will require a resident to show ID or other acceptable forms of identification which shows the name and address at which they registered to vote.