Duxbury select board adopts order to assess 25% of Phase 2 seawall cost to abutting properties

The Duxbury Select Board voted June 1 to record an order assessing betterments on properties that abut the town’s recently completed Phase 2 seawall, formalizing the town’s plan to allocate 25% of the project’s net cost to benefiting property owners.

The move follows an extended public discussion and legal review. Finance Director Mary McKinnon told the board the project’s construction and related costs came to $14.776 million; after a $3 million Coastal Zone Management grant the net project cost is $11.7 million. Under the funding plan approved previously by town meeting, the town will pay about 75% ($8.8 million) and the remaining 25% (approximately $2.94 million) will be assessed as special assessments, commonly called betterments.

The betterments will be allocated using the same tiered methodology applied in Phase 1: properties immediately adjacent to the wall (Tier 1) pay by frontage and carry the largest share; Tiers 2–4 are assigned fixed shares that are divided among parcels in each tier.

Residents raised numerous objections during more than two hours of comment. Some said the formula unfairly concentrates costs on a small group of beachfront owners; others asked why small vacant lots or parcels that cannot be developed would be assigned amounts that exceed assessed value. "I didn't vote for the seawall. I don't get a benefit — I'm being penalized," Geraldine McShane of Garnet Road told the board. Rocco Picarillo and others described small, undevelopable parcels they purchased for neighborhood protection and asked not to be assessed burdensome amounts.

Town counsel Jeff Blake said he reviewed the objections and the letter from private attorneys representing some residents and concluded the town has legal authority under the statutes and existing case law to assess the betterments for this distinct project. He recommended recording the order now and relying on statutory abatement and appeal procedures to address individual anomalies. "There may be equitable arguments for particular parcels," Blake said, "but those are the kinds of individual issues the abatement process exists to address."

Mary McKinnon said the order must be recorded by June 15 to preserve the town’s ability to enforce the assessments. After recording, the treasurer/collector’s office will mail a detailed letter to each affected property owner (staff expect mailings around Sept. 1). The letter will include three payment options: pay in full with no interest charge; make a down payment and amortize the remainder over up to 20 years; or amortize the full amount over 20 years. If a property owner does not respond within 30 days of the letter, statute defaults the assessment to a 20‑year amortization on the real-estate tax bill. During public Q&A an attendee confirmed the illustrative amortization rate used in staff examples was 3.6%.

Board members acknowledged residents’ strong concerns but said town meeting had already approved the financing structure. Select Board member Amy said the town had followed the Phase 1 methodology to be consistent, and Finance Committee members warned that missing the filing deadline would transfer the projected $2.94 million to the town’s overlay budget, effectively making taxpayers pay the entire amount.

After debate the board approved the order on a 4–0 roll‑call vote (Michael: yes; Fernando: yes; Ryan: yes; Amy: yes). The board authorized town counsel and staff to make technical updates to the owner list and to record the order with the registry. Property owners will have the statutory venues (abatement, appeal) to raise parcel‑specific claims once assessments are committed.

What happens next: staff will record the order with the registry and the treasurer/collector will prepare and send the individualized letters with amortization schedules beginning in early September. Formal betterment amounts will first appear on the real estate bills in Q3 and Q4 billing cycles beginning January 2027 if amortized. The record of the order will be publicly available at the registry and on town websites once recorded.