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Clerk will create signature stamp for motor vehicle excise tax certificates after state review
Summary
After a state complaint and a cited 1997 state opinion, the clerk told the Town of Hubbardston board it must sign every motor-vehicle excise tax abatement and will use a stamp bearing members' signatures on certificates to reduce paperwork; members said they will continue to sign the actual abatements.
The clerk told the Town of Hubbardston board the state raised concerns that the town wasn’t handling motor vehicle excise tax abatements correctly and that board members must now sign every abatement application and every certificate.
“As part of that process … we are not doing our motor vehicle excise tax abatement adequately,” the clerk said, and cited a 1997 state opinion as the basis for allowing certificates to be stamped rather than individually hand-signed. The clerk proposed making a stamp with the members’ signatures and paying for it from the town supply budget, estimating the cost would be about $5.
Board members asked clarifying questions and voiced caution. One committee member said, “That’s a problem,” when the clerk suggested stamping signatures on certificates, and asked whether the town or members would pay for the stamp. The clerk replied she would buy the stamp from the supply budget and emphasized that board members would still sign every formal abatement application even if certificates were stamped.
The clerk said the change will take effect immediately: members will sign the actual abatements going forward, and the clerk will stamp the certificates, which the clerk said will reduce the number of documents members must sign. The clerk also brought the current batch report and the stack of abatements and certificates to the meeting so members could sign that night.
No formal roll-call vote on adopting the stamp procedure was recorded in the meeting; the board discussed the proposal and members expressed tentative consent while noting concerns about authentication and paperwork.
