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| OK, it's not the Sandwich Plant (but aren't we all sick of THAT picture?) |
I was "borrowing" some newspaper from my neighbor's recycling bin to line Tusk the Turtle's cage (I knew the CCT was good for SOMETHING!) and I noted two articles that should be of Big Picture importance to every Sandwich taxpayer.
Fortunately, the CCT stories are also online -- so you don't need to raid your neighbor's recycling bin or my kids' turtle cage -- or (God FORBID!!) buy the damn paper.
and (the one we REALLY care about):
This is what we have been waiting for. The power plant represents 6.5% of the local tax base and pays in approximately $2.4 million dollars in taxes each year. As has been discussed many times, in The Good Olde Days, the Sandwich Leaders of Yore decided that commercial development was unneeded in Town -- after all, we had a Big Dirty Power Plant (BDPP) that was going to support the town forever! We didn't need those retail stores, or office space, or potato chip factories.
Anyway, the BDPP has been reducing its staff and selling off its oil inventory (did you notice the Big Boats seemed to be leaving lower in the water than when they arrived? ). It's just a matter of time.
There are some happy people -- Matt Patrick, the State Rep from Falmouth who has been pushing to close the plant -- (Hey, Matt, so what's a little air pollution and over-priced electricity between neighbors?) -- and my friend, John, who is the Chairman of the Carver FinCom who has been wrestling with how the Town of Carver will be spending the $700,000 in new taxes that NStar will be paying them for the transformer station that will be yet another nail in Sandwich's fiscal coffin.
I think we could all tell John where to stick that $700K !!
FOLLOW UP: Sean Gonsalves of the CCT did a follow-up column on this issue this morning -- I thought he did a good job pointing out the key components of my economic feasibility study of this issue (800 lb gorillas and Fairy Dust -- not bad for 5 years of college, 2 two years with the world's largest Accounting firm, and 23 years of real estate and financial management background, huh?)
FOLLOW UP: Sean Gonsalves of the CCT did a follow-up column on this issue this morning -- I thought he did a good job pointing out the key components of my economic feasibility study of this issue (800 lb gorillas and Fairy Dust -- not bad for 5 years of college, 2 two years with the world's largest Accounting firm, and 23 years of real estate and financial management background, huh?)
8 comments:
The Truth Maker would also like to add that as we post The plant has been removing machinery inside the plant as well as reducing the stock pile of fuel . If and when it comes to closing it at the end of the agreement with Sandwich, the tax rates will be much lower. The formula they used to determine the tax rate takes into account not only the land space , but what is inside as working eguipment.
The land that is in and around the plant will become a super site, as over the years going from a coal fired to oil power plant, the ground has become contaminated by oil and coal spills. The coal that was allowed to sit on the surface of the ground where it was stored, has left its mark on the land mass beneath those areas, that will reguire the soil to be burned off or removed. The same can be stated from years of oil spills in and around the pipe line used to transfer the oil from the tanks to the plant.
Who will get to pay for this impending environmental super site that is located in the Town of Sandwich.
One needs to think about that process before we start to have ideas, as to what the land can be used for, once the plant is no longer operational.
You can be sure that the owners of the present plant are working on plans that medigate there losses, before they decide to shut it down.
Sounds like the apocalypse ... the power plant is going away, my Social Security is frozen, unemployment is up, nobody (except the teachers!) is getting a raise and the Town thinks they are going to pass not one but TWO overrides this year!
No wonder the elected boards are starting to resemble the Cardinal Cushing School's Student Council. Who else would want the job?
On the other hand…Assume Mirant’s tax payments drop by half, after all the land alone is worth 50% of the total current assessment. Revenue loss to Sandwich is “just” $1.4 million or about $120 per year on the average tax bill. This really isn’t that big a deal. Taxpayers need to continue to focus on Town spending, especially salaries which grow 5.5% a year on average. The Cure is simple folks – no town employee’s total compensation can ever GROW by more than 3% a year. Until this happens it’s just a question of how many to lay off each year.
According to the newspaper, The total assessment is $216.6 million with ONLY 11% or $23.8 million being actual land value.
The remaining taxable value of $192 million is related to the equipment, inventory, and the buildings currently on-site.
We know that Mirant has been selling their oil inventory. And, I have been hearing that they have also already started to relocate some equipment to other facilities. I strongly suspect that by the time the plug is actually pulled, the remaining equipment will be worth substantially less than $192 million.
I also suspect the heavily-polluted land will be worth far less than $23.8 million once you factor in clean-up costs and the costs of attempting to permit land adjacent to the canal.
You can see how well the Town has done re-developing and/or expanding the marina area.
Not.
The building and equipment is treated as equipment and depreciated over time; which is why Mirant's tax bill decreases year over year and does not increase absent capital improvements. I dont think the revenue fall off will be quite as bad as folks think. Mirant just isnt what it once was in terms of town tax revenues.
$2.4 million buys a lot of bananas!
We could open another Town Hall or two more libraries. That way we would have someplace dry to go after the police and fire headquarters get washed out to sea.
We are disgraceful to still have our police and fire dept in that swamp building. Shame on our elected officials for letting years go by and still ignoring the fact the buildings are in the swamp, never mind the mold and bacteria issues.
Cease the excessive overtime and build them a healthy dry buildings!
Technicality: the Mirant site cannot become a Superfund site, because Superfund specifically does not cover petroleum contamination. Thank your oil lobby for that little loophole.
I think Superfund isn't Superfund anymore, anyway. The buzzword now is Brownfields, and there may be some grant money in that. Been a while since I was in the loop.
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