Simple question-why would we approve the $325,000 to finalize designs if we questioned the financial wisdom of the final investment of $25 million? Regards, Sara Mattes ------ Sara Mattes
> On Oct 25, 2022, at 2:17 PM, Seth Rosen <[email protected]> wrote: > > Friends and Neighbors - > > I've recently become more informed on this particular issue, and share a lot > of the concerns articulated below. The below information was compiled by a > group of very diligent and thoughtful neighbors whose opinions I respect. I > volunteered to send it along to LincolnTalk. > > If you have feelings on this issue, and are concerned about a potential ~9% > property tax increase to fund it, please make your voice heard on November > 30th. > > The Background > > In May of 2022, a proposal was approved at Town Meeting to establish a > Committee to explore the construction of a Community Center. The major goal > for the Community Center is to house the Council on Aging, in other words, to > operate as a senior center. At that time, the cost of this Community Center > was estimated at $25MM. This cost would be paid from our property taxes. > > On November 14th the Committee will provide more details on the two designs > presented in May and ask residents to approve $325,000 to hire an architect > to finalize both designs and put them to a vote at the Special Town Meeting > on November 30th. > > While we want to provide seniors with a facility that meets their needs, we > believe the two very similar designs envisioned by the Committee are not the > right path forward. The details are spelled out below, but basically: > > - They are too expensive, out of proportion to our needs and means. > Your property taxes will go up thousands of dollars a year, forever, making > our town even more unaffordable for many residents. > > - Town’s finances are already stretched after the completion of the > school building and will be further compromised by unavoidable incremental > expenses and capital investments. > > - There are better and cheaper ways to achieve the same goals. They > should be investigated before moving ahead with a final design. > > What can you do? First, learn more about this. There is low awareness of this > project and its consequences, but in our experience when folks are debriefed > on the matter, most agree with our take. Read below for more detailed > information about the costs and alternatives, and please do not hesitate to > get in touch if you have questions (email [email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>). Second, come to the Special Town > Meeting in the Donaldson Auditorium on November 30th at 7:30pm, and vote > against the proposal to spend another $325,000 to fund additional work on > this design. > > The current proposal is disproportionate to our needs and would make our town > even more unaffordable for young families and retired seniors. Our estimate > is that the construction and manning of the Center would increase the average > property tax bill by $1,700. We can both provide our seniors the services > they need, and avoid financial hardship in our community. > > Its financial impact has been materially understated > > The preliminary financial impact presented at Town Meeting in May is not an > accurate representation of the financial burden the Community Center will > impose on our town: > > · The 3% interest rate discussed at the time would be over 4% today. > This alone would increase the debt service cost by 20%. > · The alternatives presented last year ranged between $23MM and > $25.4MM. We can use $25MM to calculate the debt service. Using the updated > interest rate, annual debt service would be ~$1.5MM. > · We do not want to get bogged down on this debate, but we would just > note that the inflation expectations used at the time are looking very > optimistic. The cost estimate increased an average 10% every year between the > initial estimate of 2018 and the update in 2021, but are only projected to > grow 3.5% per year over the next four despite a much higher overall inflation > background. > · There was no estimation of the operating budget of this new facility. > A good rule of thumb for a public building is to assume 2% annual maintenance > ($500,000), on top of that we assume $100,000 in utilities expense, 0.5% > insurance cost ($150,000), perhaps an additional $300,000 for 3-4 FTEs > (janitors and personnel for new services provided) and another $50,000 in > sundry expenses like new capital equipment and consumables. This would > represent a cost increase of ~$1.1MM per year, growing at the rate of > inflation. > > A $2.6MM annual expense would represent an increase of approximately 9% > versus the FY22 tax levy, $1,700 in incremental property tax for the average > property owner. This is simply unacceptable at a time in our town when we are > discussing options of how to reduce the financial burden for seniors living > on a fixed income. Lincoln families already pay the third-highest property > tax bills in Massachusetts. > https://www.mass.gov/info-details/fy2022-massachusetts-average-single-family-tax > > <https://www.mass.gov/info-details/fy2022-massachusetts-average-single-family-tax> > Property taxes in our town are already more onerous, defined as a percentage > of our income, than our neighbors and peers’. > https://dlsgateway.dor.state.ma.us/reports/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=AverageSingleTaxBill.SingleFamTaxBill_wRange > > <https://dlsgateway.dor.state.ma.us/reports/rdPage.aspx?rdReport=AverageSingleTaxBill.SingleFamTaxBill_wRange> > Dire straits directly ahead > > The town faces a difficult next few years financially as the following > incremental expenses, to be accomplished through increases in the tax levy, > are likely to require overrides > > · Teacher salaries, which are by far the town’s greatest expense, have > been frozen for the past two years and their contract is up for negotiation > this fiscal year. > · The last inflation read was 8.2%, including a 6.6% increase in core > inflation. The town will have to make tough decisions regarding resource > prioritization to keep fiscal balances in check and retain talent. > · There are several other non-discretionary capital investments in the > horizon, including a road maintenance plan and a new DPW facility, which > would be jeopardized if we moved ahead with this project. > · Last year we received a one-off $2MM from the American Rescue Plan. > We should not expect this type of largesse in the future. > > As most of you know, the town has a very small commercial tax base and an > insignificant amount of new single-family house construction to lighten the > burden on existing property owners. The current economic consensus is that > the U.S. economy is heading into a recession. It would be highly imprudent to > increase our leverage and spending in this macroeconomic environment. > > We have great alternatives > > The town already has enough space to host senior activities, we just need to > be more open-minded in our approach. We believe that converting Pierce House > into the town’s COA headquarters would address all of the concerns associated > with Bemis Hall as presented in the 2018 Planning report. To be precise, > there would be plentiful parking, easy accessibility and enough rooms to both > provide services that require confidentiality and conduct group activities. > > Pierce House is an idyllic location right at the center of town that needs to > be maintained into perpetuity. This new mission would set it much closer to > the Pierce family’s original gift intentions (community health) than its > current use as a wedding facility. We suspect that many neighbors would be > very happy with the accompanying noise reduction and we would avoid doubling > down on the existing traffic congestion at the school’s campus. > > There is no shortage of currently underutilized public buildings in town > which could compliment Pierce House to provide additional space for the COA > and community groups. The Town Building is very large for a town our size > (the same size as Weston with less than half the population) and Hartwell > could definitely see heavier use with a more rational floorplan. We should > also reconsider upgrading Bemis Hall. > > Other than housing COA activities, it is not entirely clear what benefits the > Community Center would provide the town. By its own admission, the Parks and > Recreation department is happy with the pod where they are currently located. > There will almost certainly be a need to revamp the pods or find alternative > accommodations at some point in the near future, but we should not let the > tail wag the dog. > > A palatial structure out of proportion with our needs and our peers > > The current Community Center proposal is for a 23,500 sqft facility, which is > out of proportion with the size of our town and our senior population: > > · Most neighboring towns, all of them more populous than us (pop. 4,771 > excluding Hanscom), do not have a separate Community Center. Wayland (pop. > 13,724), Bedford (14,155), Carlisle (5,181) and Harvard (6,844) fall in that > list. > · Concord, with almost four times our population, has a 18,000 sqft > Community Center, which also houses its pre-school. > · Sudbury, which has a population also almost four times ours, has a > project to build a new facility. The space allocated to their senior center > is 5,754 sqft. > · Weston, is a wealthier town with more than twice the seniors (65+) > and total population, has a slightly smaller (22,500 sqft), much more modest > architecturally facility. > · Even Newton, with a population 18 times ours, is projecting a cheaper > Senior Center ($19.5MM). > · The envisioned cost per square foot of our Center, which would > surpass $1,000 per square foot, speaks to a lavish facility, more suited to > an international conference center than a small town’s senior center. > · Pierce House has a finished square footage of 5,306, perfect for our > needs. > > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to [email protected]. > Search the archives at http://lincoln.2330058.n4.nabble.com/. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >
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