Mary E. Arnaut v. Boston, City of - Office of the Assessor (SPR 20210706)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records April 5, 2021 SPR21/0706 Laura Caltenco, Esq. City of Boston Assessing Department One City Hall Square Boston, MA 02201 Dear Attorney Caltenco: I have received the petition of Mary E. Arnaut appealing the response of the City of Boston (City) Assessing Department (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Arnaut requested copies of records and information used by the Assessing Department to determine the FY21 valuation of condominiums and also to assess the FY21 valuation of an identified real property located in Boston, specifically: 1) Each of the specific criteria used by the Assessing Department to define a comparable property used to assess condo properties valuations for FY21; 2) The specific addresses, of at least six (6) but not more than twenty-five (25), of the condo properties used as comparables to determine the FY21 valuation of the [identified real property]; 3) The actual date(s) the specific comparables, as requested in #2, were compared to [the identified real property] to determine its FY21 valuation; 4) The date of the sale of each specific comparable property, as requested in #2, used to assess the FY21 valuation of [the identified real property]; 5) The name of the computer software used, in any way, to assess condo property valuations for FY21; 6) The specific formula and / or method, using comparables data, to assess condo valuations for FY21; and 7) Copies of any and all handwritten, typed, or emailed records related to and/or produced at any time during the process of assessing and reporting the FY21 valuation of [the identified real property]. On March 9, 2021, the Department provided a response indicating that the City’s Assessor spoke with Ms. Arnaut and provided her with a link to 2019 sales of certain properties in the One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre • pre@sec.state.ma.us

Laura Caltenco, Esq. SPR21/0706 Page 2 April 5, 2021 City. On March 17th, with respect to Request #1, the Department provided a further response which explains, “[a]ssessing does not identify specific criteria to define comparable properties. Rather, Assessing’s CAMA (Computer Assisted Mass Appraisal) system and the statistical software used to develop the condominium models uses data from all arms-length condominium sales that took place citywide to arrive at an assessed value. All condominium sales used by CAMA are accessible from this link: https://wwww.boston.gov/departments/assessing#tax-info.” With regard to Ms. Arnaut’s Requests Numbered 2, 3, 4, and 6, the Department directed her to its response provided for Request Number 1. The Department also stated as to Requests Numbered 3 and 4 that the relevant lien date is 1/1/2020, and that Ms. Arnaut should refer to the link for the specific sales. Regarding Request Number 5 the Department’s response states, “[a]ssessing uses IBM’s SPSS Statistical Analysis software and Patriot’s AP5, which is our CAMA (computer assisted mass appraisal system). No responsive records Ms. Arnaut’s requested “copies of any and all handwritten, typed, or emailed records related to and/or produced at any time during the process of assessing and reporting the FY21 valuation of [an identified real property in the City], and the Department’s response indicates that there are no responsive records other than the property record card for the fiscal year 2021.” The Department provided Ms. Arnaut with the property record card. Under the Public Records Law, the Department is not required to create records in response to a public records request. In addition, a public employee is not required to answer questions, or do research, or create documents in response to questions. The duty to comply with requests for information extends only to those records that exist and are in the custody of the custodian of records at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 4, § 7(26); see also 32 Op. Att’y Gen. 157, 165 (May 18, 1977). As a result of the Department’s responses, Ms. Arnaut petitioned the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor), and this appeal was opened. Based on the Department’s responses, it is unclear whether the Department has any additional records responsive to this request. I find that the Department must clarify this issue. Conclusion Accordingly, the Department is ordered to provide Ms. Arnaut with a response to the request, in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 10 business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us.

Laura Caltenco, Esq. SPR21/0706 Page 3 April 5, 2021 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Laura Caltenco, Esq. Shawn A. Williams, Esq.