ATHOL – After five and a half years on the job, Athol Treasurer/Collector Patrick McIntyre is vacating his office at Town Hall to take a similar position in Acton.

“He has really done a good job in that office,” said Town Manager Shaun Suhoski. “We had some turnover due to retirement and other reasons in the years preceding his arrival, so it was good to have stability in that office.”

Suhoski praised McIntyre for the job he has done investing Athol’s funds “for higher interest returns. He’s really done a good job in that area, as well as reducing outstanding real estate taxes through tax title, and being a little more diligent and timely in keeping on top of that process so that people don’t fall so far behind – so they can have a payment plan. Those are a couple of the hallmarks where he has really helped the town move forward.”

The town manager also credited McIntyre with working with Town Accountant Amy Crave for moving the town to a “more efficient and streamlined” process for bill paying.

“He started this project, and Amy has picked it up, to improve the interface where people can easily pay their bills online through phone devices, through electronic means, offering a wider array of convenience to the taxpayers and the town’s customers,” Suhoski said.

Suhoski said although he not expecting McIntyre’s departure, the news didn’t come as a surprise. He explained that Acton is much closer to McIntyre’s hometown of Clinton and “it’s a much larger community.” With a population of more than 24,000, Acton has about twice as populace as Athol, with an annual municipal budget topping $40 million.

When asked about his accomplishments in Athol, McIntyre echoed Suhoski, saying, “When I came here at the beginning of February 2020, we had about $900,000 (in tax titles). Over the years, we’ve added to that balance through takings, but as I finish my term here, as of June 30, we have $300,000 less than when I started. But some of those (property owners) are in payment plans and hopefully they’ll keep it going and continue to bring that balance down.”

Property taking, McIntyre said, has become more complicated for towns nationwide in recent years due to the case of Tyler vs. Hennepin County. In 2023, the U.S. Supreme court ruled unanimously that the surplus value of property seized for unpaid taxes is protected by the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause. Essentially, any equity in a property seized by the town must be returned to the property owner once the property has been sold at auction.

“We now have to have the property appraised,” McIntyre explained, “we have to retain a broker, and we have to go to a sale of the property. And if the property owner files a claim within one year, we need to give them that excess equity (based on the appraised value.)”

McIntyre said he was also proud of investing the money Athol received under the Covid-era American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA), thus allowing the town to extend the amount of fuel assistance Athol could offer under the plan.

“We were able to run that for two full winters, and we really helped a lot of people with that. A lot of the ARPA funds weren’t being expended right away, so they would have been sitting there idle,” he said. “Instead, I worked with the bank and put those funds into secured certificates of deposit. So, over the course of the program, we earned $300,000 in interest, and we were able to take some of that interest and extend the fuel assistance for another partial winter.”

Hired in January of 2020, McIntyre didn’t have much time in the office before he was hit with something totally unexpected.

“On March 13,” he explained, “I was at Market Basket and my wife called me and said, ‘Something’s happening. Buy some canned food and some toilet paper because something is going on.’”

McIntyre and two other workers in the office “divided up the office hours because we couldn’t all be in here together because of the social distancing thing. We divided up the hours of work.”

That, he said, made it a bit difficult to settle into the position.

“I didn’t get to meet everybody. I didn’t get that first real introduction to the people here,” he said. “But we got things done. Being able to work from home helped. But here I was the new guy, and I didn’t get a real chance to bond and connect with people right away.”

McIntyre said he’ll not only miss his co-workers at Town Hall, but also the residents he’s had the opportunity to work with and serve. While his last day in the office will be July 2, he will serve as interim treasurer/collector during the search for his successor, working remotely and getting the town ready to transition into the new fiscal year. Suhoski said he hopes to have someone on board by August.

“We have a transition plan,” said Suhoski. “Patrick will stay on while we undertake the recruitment, search process and hopefully be with us until we settle on a treasurer/collector.”

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.