The Malden City Council meets Tuesday, November 10 at 7 p.m. with a public hearing on whether to adopt a residential exemption for the fiscal 2027 tax rate, an order moving $11,173,912.75 of certified free cash into two stabilization funds, and final passage of the inclusionary zoning rewrite the council has been working on since the summer. Two committees meet first: Finance at 5:30 p.m. on an $800,000 change to the public works budget, and Rules and Ordinance at 6 p.m. on zoning for nonconforming lots and hotel heights.
Everything below comes from the three posted agendas. The council meets in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 215 Pleasant Street; the committees meet in Room 105. All three are streamed on Microsoft Teams, and the city posts instructions for live translated captions at cityofmalden.org/captions.
The residential exemption hearing
Paper 443-26, sponsored by Councillor at Large Carey McDonald, says the council “will vote on whether to adopt a residential exemption and to set a minimum residential factor for the FY 2027 tax rate as presented by Assessor Nathaniel Cramer.” Under state law a residential exemption knocks a fixed amount off the assessed value of owner-occupied homes and shifts that share of the residential levy onto other residential property, including rentals, second homes and vacant lots; the minimum residential factor sets how much of the total levy can be shifted from homes to commercial, industrial and personal property. The agenda lists the hearing under “Hearings, Petitions, Memorials, and Remonstrances,” which means residents can speak before the vote. The agenda does not include the assessor’s presentation or any proposed percentages.
$11.17 million of free cash into reserves
Paper 454-26, also from McDonald, would appropriate $11,173,912.75 “from available certified free cash” and transfer it to two accounts: $10,158,102.50 to the General Purpose Stabilization Fund and $1,015,810.25 to the Short Term Capital Needs Stabilization Fund. The split sends about 91 percent of the money to the general reserve and 9 percent to the capital reserve. The agenda gives no other detail on the certified free cash figure or what balance the funds would hold afterward.
The $800,000 snow and ice deficit
The Finance Committee, which McDonald chairs with Councillor Ari Taylor as vice chair and Councillors Paul Condon, Michelle Luong, Jadeane Sica and Chris Simonelli as members, takes up paper 448-26 at 5:30 p.m. and reports it to the full council the same night as committee report 457-26. The order amends Schedule B of the fiscal 2027 general fund appropriation by cutting the Department of Public Works line by $800,000, from $9,525,480 to $8,725,480.
The text explains the cut: it “shall eliminate the $800,000 appropriated within the Department of Public Works FY2027 budget for the FY2026 snow and ice deficit, which will instead be raised on the FY2027 tax recapitulation report.” In plain terms, the city budgeted last spring to pay off last winter’s overspending on snow and ice out of this year’s DPW appropriation; the order instead lets the deficit be raised directly on the tax recap, the state form that sets the tax rate. All other parts of the appropriation order stay as they are. The committee also approves its October 27 minutes (paper 449-26).
Inclusionary zoning and the animal control officer: enrolled ordinances
Three ordinances appear under “Enrolled Ordinances,” the stage before final passage. Paper 335-26, sponsored by Councillor Stephen Winslow, strikes the city’s inclusionary zoning section, 12.12.300, “in its entirety” and inserts a rewrite. Its companion, 335A-26, adds a new subsection F titled “Incentives.” The attachments list the paper trail: a section-by-section summary, the planning office’s cover letter and study report, the RKG feasibility study, the Planning Board report dated August 26, recommended amendments from September 15, the building commissioner and city planner’s memo of October 1 and a second memo of October 15, and the proposed amendments for the October 20 Rules and Ordinance meeting. The council advanced the package on October 27; our report on that meeting, which cut the affordability requirement to 10 percent with parking and height incentives, is linked below.
Paper 446-26, from Winslow and Council President Amanda Linehan, moves supervision of the animal control officer out of the police department section of the code (2.12.165 C) and into the Department of Public Health and Human Services (2.12.105 D), following a memo from the mayor dated October 22.
Also on the council agenda
- Fire commissioner: the mayor appointed Leonard Iovino of 33 Spring Street as fire commissioner to fill the unexpired term of Emery Haskell, which runs to March 1, 2027 (paper 451-26). Confirmation is not required; the paper is to be placed on file.
- Cultural Council: Leilani Ricardo of 23 Valley Street was reappointed through August 23, 2029 (450-26).
- Shade trees: Linehan filed amendments to chapter 11.16, Public Shade Trees, touching five sections and adding a new section 11.16.060 (452-26); the recommendation is referral to Rules and Ordinance.
- Historical Commission: the commission’s fiscal 2026 annual report (453-26) goes on file.
- Forest Dale Cemetery: an easement to National Grid “for the perpetual right to install five (5) anchors and guys” and related equipment over, under and across the cemetery (455-26, Taylor).
- Linden Park: a resolution asking the mayor to apply for a state PARC grant through the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs for improvements to the Linden Park Playground (456-26, Sica).
- Tabled: the National Grid and Verizon petition for a new jointly owned pole and sidewalk guy on Floral Avenue near Gordon Street, plan 31115123, which requires a hearing (285-26).
Rules and Ordinance at 6 p.m.
Winslow chairs the committee with Councillor at Large Karen Colon Hayes as vice chair and Councillors Peg Crowe, Linehan and Ryan O’Malley as members. Two papers are up for business. Paper 325-26, from Taylor and Winslow, amends section 12.28.010(E) on nonconforming uses, lots, buildings and structures; the packet includes draft language for a “preexisting nonconformity” allowance, the Planning Board’s report, a council presentation and the building commissioner and city planner’s October 6 memo. Paper 445-26, from Winslow and Linehan, would change the hotel and motel maximum height in the table of intensity regulations to read “6 Stories not to exceed 75 ft.” Still tabled is 327A-26, the use regulations amendment that Taylor, Winslow and O’Malley split off from paper 327-26 in October.
The council roster on the agenda: President Amanda Linehan; Councillors at Large Karen Colon Hayes, Michelle Luong and Carey McDonald; and Ward Councillors Paul Condon, Peg Crowe, Ryan O’Malley, Jadeane Sica, Chris Simonelli, Ari Taylor and Stephen Winslow. City Clerk Carol Ann Desiderio signed the agenda. Residents who need an accommodation can contact ADA coordinator Maria Luise at 781-397-7000, extension 2005.
Earlier coverage: the October 27 meeting, where the inclusionary zoning package and the animal control transfer advanced, and the October 20 meeting.
