Reason #2 to VOTE NO on April 1 – COUNT THE MONEY!

(This is the second in a series of letters around the development of a 140 unit assisted living facility and parking garage).

What’s easier than counting a long list of numbers?  Counting a shorter list!  Here I review the ‘counting’ of financials as presented at Town Meeting, then include a couple of numbers known to Town Officials five months prior, but curiously, not presented to the voters. Does it make a difference to you? Count on it!  Figures are sourced from: “Proposed Sale of Town-Owned Land For The Purpose of Constructing and Operating a Parking Garage’, Date of Issue October 2, 2013, Deadline 8:00pm on November 1, 2013”, “Shelter Development, LLC Proposed Sale of Town-Owned Land For The Purpose of Constructing and Operating a Parking Garage November 15, 2013)”, the Town Meeting Video and the Town Meeting PowerPoint. The latter two (2) are available at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Stop-Town-Land-Give-Away 

The Town Meeting Power Point presentation has 20 year nets, amortized at 2.5%. That presentation has the net cash gain for the Town at $1,600,000. However, the $25,000 Capital and Maintenance expense was not ‘counted’ in that figure. So as we ‘count the money’, the net gain gets reduced down to $1,100,000.

As noted in the “Reason #1...follow the money” letter, we acquired the RFP 28 days after Town Meeting and discovered that “Shelter would gain an estimated $1.5 million in value …by acquiring the Property”. When that value is included, the town is actually losing $400,000.

Sadly true, within 20 years the author may need ‘assisted living’, but does Shelter LLC need our ‘assisted giving’?  Let’s not forget that the town meeting articles enabled Shelter LLC to expand from 90 to 140 units. Let’s ‘count the money’ for just those additional 50. The monthly median average for these units in Massachusetts is $5,000. That’s $250,000 a month, $3,000,000 a year, and over 20 years, $60,000,000.

Again, I am outraged that NO VALUATION WHATSOEVER FOR THE TOWN LAND was included in any of the presentations leading up to the vote. Unlike the 148 ‘yes’ voters  in the February 6 Special Town Meeting, the 17,219 voters eligible for the April 1 vote will know what our elected Town Officials knew, the value of the Town Land according to Shelter, LLC!

In conclusion, “Reason #2 to VOTE NO on April 1 – COUNT THE MONEY” is $60,000,000 for them and a negative $400,000 for us.

Sincerely,

Robert Mitchell