Kathy Corson spoke up in Friday's TIF sub-committee meeting stating exactly what was included in an earlier post (3/27) on this blog. The voters defeated Article 19 that would have allowed the Town to adopt a tax incentive financing district. Why? Shouldn't open hearings be held to try to elicit the answer. The Town Manager's argument against open hearings is that usually some proposal is presented for those present to comment upon. In this case there is no well defined proposal.
It could be countered that the TIF sub-committee could present their goal and an outline of their plan. They do have a goal and that is to establish a "piggy bank" (Sylvia von Aulock's words) to fund downtown improvement projects. And, they have an outline of a plan (their latest draft report from October) that could be used to spell out the direction they propose to go. While the chairman of the sub-committee wishes to go full speed ahead on a detailed TIF proposal, no one supported Corson's proposal of holding some open informational sessions. Again the committee feels they understand the will of the people and that it was voted down because of a few "mischief makers" (Dan Chartrand's words) and lack of education on the TIF plan.
The Town needs to repair the sidewalks and $80,000 was voted to start the process. The question is, what other projects are needed downtown to remedy the "wear and tear" that the sub-committee feels is keeping downtown from realizing its full potential to attract visitors? One can readily see that business/building owners need to spend some money scraping and painting and repairing the glazing in storefront windows. A few trees either need to be replaced or pruned. The street pavement is a disaster. Just these items alone would improve downtown's appearance. The Town and business owners share responsibility for these items.
Al Lampert is already into the process of developing his properties on Franklin Street. Eric Chinburg has just filed his application to develop property on Chestnut Street and will soon be going before the ZBA. So, where is the need to set up a TIF district if development is already taking place?
It should be noted that timing is the issue in being able to take advantage of the cash for the "piggy bank" (TIF) that these anchor projects might provide. But, is TIF just another way to get money for downtown beautification projects that were voted down in previous years? The question that needs to be answered is, "Should the incremental property tax receipts go to downtown projects or to the general fund and schools to pay for other needed projects?" What is the will of the people?
Can someone on the TIF subcommittee communicate specific project goals that work in synchrony with the wishes of the voters, merchants and town? I see no gateway for entering the conversation on TIF unless those inputs define a broadly shared target. It there is no target then the TIF conversation is a distraction from defining the ultimate goals and therefore
ReplyDeleteobviously an inappropriate expenditure of valuable time.
One gets the impression that they are reluctant to share their goal in a public forum. Makes one suspect that they do not want to hear what residents might say as it could differ widely from the sub-committee's intended direction. Again a track leading to ultimate defeat.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a very frustrating year being part of this subcommittee. Every time I have tried to bring to the table that the subcommittee should look at the negatives that might come out about TIFs I have been knocked down as a troublemaker. My goal was to look at all sides of the issue so that we could inform and educate the public but the subcommittee hardly ever met and the process fell apart. Now the Selectboard should have a say as to what the next step is for the Tif. Afterall there were 24 articles on the ballot and only two were voted down. The voters were not dumb and that should not be the assumption. Proper process and transparency is what we all deserve. - Kathy Corson
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should resign or at least stop your constant whining about the issues. Your story line is getting boring.
DeleteSometime last year, a few members of the TIF subcommittee made a presentation to the Selectmen. When I suggested that they present, and then address, negatives, much to my surprise, I was told that there were no negatives and that they had never heard of any. I suggested that a Google search of TIF impacts could supply them with at least a few. They seemed incredulous that there would be any negatives and asked me for an example. When I gave them one (diversion of tax revenues), they dismissed it out of hand. They obviously didn't follow through on this since the draft report had no mention of perceived negative impacts. How valuable is a report from an advisory committee to the Board if it doesn't discuss positives and negatives.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, I submitted 6 pages of comments on the draft TIF report four months ago and I haven't heard anything since then.
Frank Ferraro
Now Frank you were they a short time ago and the people have spoken about what they thought about the job you were doing. As Ms Corson stated above the voters are not dumb.
DeleteThe EDC voted to bring the Tif to the Board of Selectmen to seek direction. Really happy that we are moving on to total transparency.
ReplyDeleteThat is a positive step. Hopefully some from the public will be present to weigh in.
ReplyDelete