Melrose Select Board Approves Two TIF Districts and Firefighter Pension Increase

MELROSE — July 20, 2017 — Melrose Select Board approves two Tax Increment Financing districts and schedules a Sunday liquor public hearing. The board unanimously approved creation of Economic Development TIF District No. 9, tied to a three-phase warehouse development along the Interstate 35 corridor, with a maximum city financing note estimated at $283,000 at 9 percent interest and a total district increment base of approximately $1,080,794; a second, smaller Small City TIF district tied to an auto repair and car wash project carried a maximum city obligation of roughly $64,000. The board also unanimously approved an increase in firefighter pension contributions to $2,100 per member per year — described by department leadership as approximately a 40 percent increase after a mandatory five-year freeze — and voted to hold a public hearing October 19 on whether to restrict Sunday off-sale liquor hours, after a local license holder told the board that Sunday sales were pulling customers toward bars and restaurants rather than package stores.