Hopkinton Bill Adoption

In late 2003, Ken worked to get the City to adopt the Hopkinton Bill by local option, allowing mid-year tax assessment adjustments for new construction. This proposal passed over the objection of the Cohen Administration, which said it would be too difficult to implement and would not result in significant additional revenue.

Newton's implementation of the Hopkinton bill brought in $273,322 in additional revenue in Fiscal Year 2009, which combined with the five previous years brings the total additional revenue realized by the City as a result of this action to more than $1.4 million.

Here are the annual totals:

Fiscal Year 2004 - $328,557
Fiscal Year 2005 - $211,168
Fiscal Year 2006 - $197,237
Fiscal Year 2007 - $203,843
Fiscal Year 2008 - $273,322
Fiscal Year 2009 - $219,807

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TOTAL                  $1,433,935

When arguing for local adoption of the Hopkington Bill in Newton, Ken estimated that it would bring in an additional $200 thousand per year. To date, it has averaged more than $240 thousand per year and the fear that it would be difficult to implement turned out not to be justified.