AG's Office Determines that Lancaster Must Release Tax Abatement records

AI Generated Image (midjourney.com), prompt "Municipal Hammer of Justice"

 On August 1st, the Attorney General's Office determined that Lancaster must release it's FY2023 tax abatement records and ordered the town to respond within 10 business days.  The Attorney General's Office has now had to issue 8 orders for the town to comply with the law since Town Administrator Kate Hodges start last year.

 
Earlier this summer, in what's become a recurring story in Lancaster, the the town stonewalled requests for FY2023 tax abatement records.   It's unclear why the town picked this particular hill to die on: of all the requests the town gets, these specifically are records that Massachusetts requires the town to maintain and provide on request.

Yesterday, predictably, the Attorney General's office issued another determination against the town.  The AG ordered the town to comply with a request for tax abatement records.  The AG found the the the request was specific, the town's requirement to respond was clear, and ordered the town to respond within 10 business days.

From the AG's 8/1/2023 determination

The AG left open the possibility the Assessor's Office just isn't maintaining the records it's required to hold: that would be an even larger issue.  Regardless, they'll have to spill the beans now.

The AG has intervened over the past year for Lancaster records requests that were late (in some cases, by months), improperly billed (in some cases the town was unable to substantiate hundreds of dollars in billing), improperly blocked with misapplied exemptions, and now ... I'm not even sure what to call this one.  Responding disingenuously?

Unfortunately, for every case where the AG stepped in there are assuredly others where a resident didn't appeal an inappropriate response.  Last year Select Board member Alix Turner recommended that the town publish it's records requests, response dates, and fees collected on the website.  That's an excellent idea.  This would be a basic step to show that the town is handling requests promptly and equitably

The AG's Public Records Division is excellent: despite the volume of material they handle, they routinely respond to appeals within two weeks.  It seems like a good example of a well-run public agency.