Whitman Board of Assessors Appoints Interim Assessor, Sets FY2026 Tax Rate Recommendation

WHITMAN — November 18, 2025 — Whitman's Board of Assessors appointed an interim principal assessor and set its fiscal year 2026 tax classification recommendations at an 18-minute meeting Tuesday. The board voted unanimously to appoint Deborah Kripshek of Cohasset as interim principal assessor, filling a void left by the November 4 resignation of board member John Noska; her appointment runs until a permanent assessor is hired. In two follow-on votes, the board authorized Kripshek to sign Massachusetts Department of Revenue Gateway documents electronically and to execute payroll and timesheets. On tax classification, the board unanimously recommended a residential factor of one and voted against both a small commercial exemption and a residential exemption for FY2026 — recommendations the full board then carried upstairs to the Select Board for a 7 p.m. classification hearing the same evening. The chair disclosed publicly that the board had received an open meeting law violation finding for carrying an improper executive-session item — "Wendy Jones personnel" — on its agenda for 16 months, noting she removed it at her first meeting as chair on June 10. A joint meeting with the Select Board is set for December 2 to appoint a third member to fill Noska's seat through May 2026.