Hull Select Board Votes to Oppose State Bill Threatening $1.6 Million in Excise Tax Revenue

HULL -- April 8, 2026, Hull Select Board unanimously opposes state bill that could cost town $1.6 million in excise tax revenue. The board voted 4-0 Wednesday to send a letter of opposition to state Senator O'Connor and Representative Moschino urging defeat of Senate Bill 2874, which would eliminate the Registry of Motor Vehicles hold on license renewals for nonpayment of motor vehicle excise tax. Town Manager Jen Constable, citing a request from Collector-Treasurer Eileen White, said Hull's current 96.4 percent collection rate yields $1,663,903 annually and warned that removing the enforcement mechanism could jeopardize the full amount. A statement from the Massachusetts Collectors and Treasurers Association, read into the record, estimated a potential $440 million statewide loss if collection rates returned to pre-1990s levels. The board also absorbed news that the planned relocation of Town Hall to the Memorial Middle School has come in $4 million over its original $3 million budget, with the project now expected to cost between $5.3 million and $7 million and a move-in date pushed to spring 2027. A motion by member Jerry Taverna to establish an automatic 3 percent annual cost-of-living increase to the Select Board's stipend failed 3-1.