Northborough Council on Aging approves community needs assessment survey for distribution

NORTHBOROUGH — April 14, 2026 — Northborough's Council on Aging approved a community needs assessment survey and set a late-May distribution deadline at its April 14 meeting. Chair Fran Baxter led the board through a detailed line-by-line review of the draft survey, which will be entered into SurveyMonkey by the Northborough Public Library — with a QR code to be distributed at Annual Town Meeting, through the library and Recreation Department email lists, and via the Senior Center's social media and weekly email. The board also voted to send a letter to the Health and Disabled Taxation Fund Committee asking it to revisit the assessed property value cap for the senior tax work-off program, currently set at $664,000 against a town median home price of approximately $741,000. Friends of the Senior Center officers reported 724 current members, annual appeal receipts of $18,783.60 — described as the highest in several years — and announced a dues increase effective May 1, with resident memberships rising from $5 to $10 per individual. Senior Center Director Carol reported the center has contracted with LPI to replace its current newsletter publisher starting in August, part of an ongoing effort to cut a postage bill that had reached roughly $20,000 per year.