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Taunton council confirms firefighter promotion, approves appointments and refers senior exemption to finance committee
Summary
At its Jan. 14 meeting the City Council confirmed a promotion to lieutenant in the Fire Department, appointed new members to the library trustees and cultural council and referred a request to lower the senior tax exemption age to the Committee on Finance and Salaries.
The Taunton City Council on Jan. 14 confirmed a promotion, approved several appointments and referred policy questions to committee.
By roll-call vote taken at the meeting the council unanimously confirmed the promotion of Jeffrey P. Hardin to permanent full-time fire lieutenant, effective Jan. 19, 2025. The chamber held a brief swearing-in ceremony following the vote.
The council also approved appointments to two municipal bodies: Daisy Delano of 46 Linden Street was appointed to the Board of Library Trustees to fill an unexpired term through Dec. 2026, and Megan O’Donnell of 245 Norton Avenue was appointed to the Cultural Council for a full three-year term ending Dec. 31, 2027. Both appointments were approved by voice vote.
Separately, members received a public comment from Lillian Burt, a 66-year-old resident who urged the council to lower the eligibility age for the city’s senior tax exemption from 70 to 65, citing fixed incomes and hardship. Councilor DeWart moved, and the council approved by voice vote, a referral of the senior-exemption question to the Committee on Finance and Salaries for study; the referral will allow staff and counsel to review what statutory or Home Rule action would be required.
Council members also heard several written communications from the mayor and city departments — including updates on city-owned properties, public-safety building timelines and homelessness response plans — and referred many of those letters to standing committees for further review.
All votes recorded on these items were taken in open session except for a separate executive-session item earlier in the evening: the council went into executive session to review and consider approval of a successor collective bargaining agreement with Taunton Firefighters Local 138 IAFF under Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 30A §21; the meeting minutes state the council took two votes in executive session, including approval of the firefighter contract and approval to come out of executive session.
