Hull Town Manager Philip Lemnios’ land grab to annex Graves Light will “probably cost a hundred years’ worth of taxes” that he’s seeking to take from the property.
Dave Waller, who purchased the ledge and lighthouse from the federal government in 2013 after the Town of Hull declined to accept it for free, did so knowing that the stone formation known as The Graves is the last unincorporated piece of property in Massachusetts.
Consequently, The Graves can’t be taxed or regulated by any town.
After receiving Hull’s $3,352.42 tax bill for fiscal year 2020, Dave tried to speak to the Town Manager, who refused to talk to him. So Dave ended up asking the Massachusetts Land Court to decide.
The case is so expensive, and the town’s case is so flimsy, Dave told the Hull Times, the Town Manager’s land grab will “probably cost a hundred years’ worth of taxes” that town is seeking in its annual tax bill.
With roughly 2,800 families in the town, that means that the attempted annexation is likely to cost each Hull family well over $100.
Hi Keeper I follow a page on Facebook that shared this article and I really wanted to make you aware of something.. as you probably know the document that establishes your title to the land wich I will link below is and act of the commonwealth of Massachusetts cedeing the land to the United States government. This is the impoertant part…. because they ceded the land and didn’t sell it like what happens here in Utah. The land and the jurisdiction over the land is exclusively that of the federal government and is no longer part of the state of Massachusetts nor its jurisdiction. Technically speaking the graves is not a part of the state of Massachusetts and a municipality of that state has no right or even ability to anex or lay claim to your property. I fact it is also established in the document from what I assume is the the coast guards attorneys office when listing facts about the property the first fact listed is “the United States has exclusive legislative jurisdiction over the property” this means that it is not a part of Massachusetts but a territory of the United States. I’m not a lawyer and do not intend this to be legal advice. But as someone in a western state where I constantly have to work with federal lands your situation is unique because it’s not if the feds own it and the state has jurisdiction. In your case the state doesn’t have jurisdiction at all. And I would bring this to the attention of your attorney. I know the city has said you can’t prove that you are not a part of hull but you easily can due to your title hull can not anex or tax you because you aren’t even in Massachusetts. If you don’t have an attorney to represent you I might recommend the institute for justice https://ij.org/ as they deal with a lot of emminint domain and annexation stuff. I really am mad about what this city is trying to do to you for taking on the task of trying to preserve this historical site the best you can.
Here is the title/act of the commonwealth of Massachusetts i got this from…. found it on the auction listing. https://www.dropbox.com/s/zbdxy72lu7cqdzf/Graves%20title%20information.pdf?dl=0
Thanks for the information! We’ll follow up.