GREENFIELD – Of the city’s estimated 985 multifamily properties, the number of rental units in Greenfield and their addresses remain unknown, according to Board of Assessors member Chuck Green.

As the Board of Assessors works on a draft tax rate to be presented to City Council this fall, board members discussed with the Budget Committee the possibility of implementing a residential property exemption – a tax cut for property owners who live in their own homes and a tax increase for owners of rental properties who live elsewhere.

At a joint meeting of the two boards last week, Chief Assessor Randall Austin said he was advising the city against creating a residential exemption because that option could cause landlords to charge higher rents. Austin also said it was not known how many rental units there were within Greenfield’s boundaries.

“We don’t have a rental registry and we don’t know where there are rental apartments in the city. We have information in our database about how many apartments there are in a certain area based on an estimate that was done at some point. So we can make estimates and get some ideas, but it’s not going to be a perfect number,” Austin said.

The city’s 2022 parcel data estimates there are about 985 multifamily properties in Greenfield, of which 365 are owner-occupied and 620 are ownerless. But in an interview Tuesday, Green said collecting and recording accurate addresses is a complicated task due to technological challenges related to collecting addresses from property tax assessments.

Green said that since the city does not currently have a residential tax exemption, the lack of a rental registry would not have a significant impact on the city’s tax revenue. He noted that an up-to-date registry would help both the city’s building and health departments enforce regulations.

“There’s a lot that could be done if we knew not only exactly how many rental units there are, but where they are located,” Green said. “If there are rental units that (the building department) doesn’t know about, there could be consequences. For example, with sprinkler systems, there are certain fire safety requirements that vary depending on the number of units in a building…the health department is obviously very interested in rental units to make sure they can verify that the unit meets all the appropriate health codes and that it’s a safe, good place for people to live.”

If the city decides to implement a housing exemption in the future, Green said establishing a registry would greatly help the city distinguish between homes owned and occupied by city residents and those rented out, such as Airbnb properties or apartments.

Michael Terounzo, city councilman and chairman of the budget committee, spoke about the difficulties involved in locating all of the city’s rental properties. He said some property owners in Greenfield fraudulently list apartments they rent in the city as their primary address in order to retain their right to vote in local elections or send their children to Greenfield schools.

In addition to the technological challenges associated with digital address collection, Green said staffing shortages throughout City Hall mean that Greenfield does not have the manpower to track and record the addresses of all of the city’s apartments. He said it is common practice in other municipalities for the health department to create and maintain a rental registry.

“The city does a good job of not overspending taxpayer dollars,” Green said. “Most departments are at least a little bit, if not significantly, understaffed, so there’s definitely no room for people to run around and create something like this. The idea would be that if there’s a seemingly significant benefit, the funds could benefit all departments.”

Anthony Cammalleri can be reached at [email protected] or 413-930-4429.