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Lanesborough FinCom Supports Greylock Project; Questions Mall's Tax Future
By Andy McKeever, iBerkshires Staff
12:14AM / Wednesday, February 03, 2016
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The Finance Committee voted in favor of the school project on Monday.

LANESBORUGH, Mass. — The Finance Committee is recommending voters approve the Mount Greylock Regional School project.
 
In a 3-2 vote, the committee supported the part-renovation and part-new construction of the secondary school. The project will cost $64.8 million with the town paying about a third of the district's $32.3 million share with the state funding the rest.
 
"The Mount Greylock building project has now been approved by the Finance Committee and the chair will no longer accept that as an agenda item," said Chairman Al Terranova, who halted debate on the item that has perpetually been added the committee's agenda. 
 
The Finance Committee has debated the issue numerous times with some urging from it to oppose the project, others to support, and even others who say the board has no role. The project is put forth by the Mount Greylock Regional School Committee and will go to a ballot vote. There is no binding vote at a special town meeting, when the Finance Committee typically recommends on warrant articles.
 
"Our charge is the operating budget. The Mount Greylock project is separate from our charge," Terranova said urging the committee to be "laser focused" on those budgets, revolving accounts, and warrant articles from now on.
 
Member Ronald Tinkham and Ray Jones opposed supporting the project. Tinkham said the committee should wait until the results of a survey the Board of Selectmen requested voters fill out before taking a position.
 
"This is a vote of the Finance Committee. I see that completely independent from the survey and the vote of the town," said member Steven Wentworth.
 
While the Finance Committee's role may be limited in the Mount Greylock project, Jones said the committee shouldn't be recommending anything that will further impact the tax rate. The project looks to add between $1.61 and $1.81 to the tax rate. Jones said each year 40 to 60 cents is added to the rate because of the operating budget, thus adding nearly $2 to the the $19.36 per thousand dollars of value rate. That does not include what could be an even further decline in taxable value for the Berkshire Mall, which lost two anchor stores in the last six months.
 
"I know right now Best Buy is empty and Macy's is moving out and the tax money that corresponds with it will be gone," Jones said. 
 
He estimated more than $220,000 will be lost in tax revenue because of a recent decrease to the mall's assessment, translating to another $1.07 added to the tax rate to fund the budgets. Jones says the property tax rate could exceed $22.73 per $1,000 of assessed value.
 
However, the actual revenue numbers and the impact the changes at the Berkshire Mall will make is far from known.
 
According to the assessor's office, the impacts of those two stores leaving won't be known until 2018, when a re-evaluation is done. It is difficult to project what the tax assessment will be in that year — especially since even the 2015 assessments are unknown.
 
Under Pyramid's ownership, the town and the company had an agreement in place after assessment appeals. In 2014, the mall was valued at $33.5 million — down from $60.4 million in 2008 — and during the re-evaluation was assessed at $36.7 million for fiscal 2015.
 
As part of an agreement with the company for fiscal 2016, the assessment was valued at $31.5 million. But, the new owners have applied for an abatement asking for that to decrease even further. 
 
The overall value is still undetermined because of ongoing appeals in court. Both the assessments for fiscal 2015 and 2016 are being appealed and are expected to be tied up in litigation for some time. 
 
The taxable values essentially run a year behind, with an assessment date of January for following fiscal year. The total assessment isn't certified and approved until the fall when the town sets the tax rate. The value determined in January 2016 will be used by assessors to calculate the town's total value to set the tax rate for fiscal 2017, which begins on July 1, 2016.
 
The decreasing assessment of the Berkshire Mall isn't anything new. The assessments have been decreasing steadily since the economic recession began in 2008. The mall has lost about half of it's value since then and town officials are hoping the economy will improve, triggering more activity in retail businesses.
 
The drop in overall taxable property and personal property from the fiscal 2015 evaluation and the agreement with Pyramid for the fiscal 2016 assessment (the drop from $36.7 to $31.5 million) multiplied out by the tax rate is how Jones forecast the decrease in revenues.
 
Jones said because of what could be another $1 on the tax rate because of the loss of overall taxable value at the mall being coupled with the $1.61 to $1.81 for the school, the town won't be able to afford the Mount Greylock project.
 
"How can we in good faith and good conscience make a recommendation to the town's people to add anything to the tax rate?" Jones said, adding that isn't opposed to "doing something with the school" but not the "Taj Mahal" he feels the School Committee is proposing.
 
Others on the Finance Committee, however, said it is too early to tell what will happen to the mall and the town's overall taxable value and shouldn't factor into the decisions.
 
Plenty of stores have closed and others have reopened and the town won't know the impacts of the two stores for sure for another year and a half or so — leaving plenty of time for even more changes to the town's total stock of taxable properties, values, and the economy. 
 
"I'd like to hear what their business plan is. They've got to have a business plan and solutions moving forward," Wentworth said, who said the closures open up a number of possible businesses opportunities. 
 
Later he added, "We are all concerned about the mall but we don't know the end game ... Let's not prejudge everything."
 
Terranova again said the project and the mall is out of the jurisdiction of the committee. The assessors set the the tax rate to fund the budget approved by town meeting and the project is proposed by the School Committee. Terranova said the committee is charged with recommending a budget there and with only about six meetings to go before then, it is important to handle that task with utmost important. 
 
"We don't have any control over that. We can make recommendations but it is the School Committee that chooses that [project]." he said. "Let's not confuse the operating budget from the project."
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