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Photo Vincent Guadazno
Worried about voter revolt over the cost to restore Town Hall, town officials may offer different funding options at Special Town Meeting in November. |
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Town leaders rethink Town Hall bailout plan
By Pru Sowers
Banner Staff
PROVINCETOWN – Concerns that voters might reject a proposal to pay an estimated $7 million to restore Town Hall is forcing town officials to rethink their game plan for Special Town Meeting on Nov. 16.
Town Manager Sharon Lynn and the selectmen had been planning on putting one option before voters to pay for the restoration, essentially putting all their eggs in one basket. But worries that voters might balk at a price tag estimated to be over $7 million have led some, including finance committee chair Tom Cohn, to question whether that is the best plan. Cohn is scheduled to meet on Oct. 6 with Lynn, municipal finance director Alix Heilala, Assistant Town Manager David Gardner and board of selectmen chair Michele Couture to explore options.
“If we were to do this all at once, it would be a very significant expansion of our debt,” Cohn said. “It’s a very scary financial climate now, with the state budget climate and the possible elimination of the [state] income tax. There’s enough concern to at least have a long discussion on it.”
Cohn pointed out that the current market turmoil resulting from the national banking meltdown has caused municipal bond prices to shoot up to almost six percent. Those bond prices directly affect Provincetown’s borrowing costs. In some cases, Cohn said, municipalities can’t find buyers for their general obligation bonds — the financing mechanism that would be used to raise money for the Town Hall restoration — unless they pay a premium above the six percent market rate.
“That’s another concern I have. This may not be the best climate for borrowing,” he said.
Heilala said the Oct. 6 meeting will look at how to structure the amendment on the Special Town Meeting warrant. Should the request for funding be spread out over several phases or, as she put it, “the whole nine yards?” Heilala pointed out that the bond borrowing for the restoration would be a debt exclusion, meaning it would not add the estimated $7 million cost to the tax rate all at once, but the principal and interest would be spread out over at least 20 years.
Gardner said the town has a responsibility to move forward on the restoration because the timing of the project has already been set in motion. Town Hall staff is slated to move into rented trailers beginning on Nov. 6, and a two-year rental contract has been signed for the mobile units.
As for whether or not voters will be convinced they can afford the restoration price tag, Gardner said, “You have to consider the impact on the total economy to have this building boarded up. There are a lot of reasons for work to be done on this building. It’s extremely frustrating for us to meet the community’s needs [in the antiquated facility]. You’re going to get the government you pay for.”
Couture said she stands squarely behind funding the entire project all at once, as opposed to a phased approach that might start with the exterior repairs and hold off on the interior renovations until a later time. She acknowledged that the “timing couldn’t be worse” to ask voters to borrow a large sum of money when the local and national economies are so uncertain. However, Town Hall is structurally unsound and a repair/restoration project is the only way the building can continue to be used, she said.
“Like any project, it will cost more in the long run. We should bite the bullet and do it now,” Couture said.
Selectman David Bedard said he would support a plan to do immediate structural work on the building to ensure its safety. One option, he said, would be to bring an article to Special Town Meeting asking for funding for the exterior portion of the project, and wait until the Annual Town Meeting in April to ask for the rest. By then, Bedard said, the turmoil in both the state and national economies may have settled down. In addition, voters will have a better idea in the spring about the state of Provincetown’s own finances.
“I don’t think the town itself has much faith in town government yet. We need to put together a good budget, which I’m hoping to do this winter,” Bedard said, adding, “I understand the fears out there. People are worried about the cost of heating their homes and putting gas in their cars.”
psowers@provincetownbanner.com
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Oct 2nd, 2008