The Rochester Board of Selectmen and the Industrial Development Commission (IDC) met June 1 to discuss Article 18 of the Annual Town Meeting warrant to dissolve the IDC, and selectmen also decided to skip over Article 17 on Town Meeting floor.
The IDC came to discuss its future and the future of the $88,335 that had remained unspent in its allotment since 1984.
The IDC decided that, as an organization, it was no longer needed in the Town of Rochester and it should be dissolved to free up the IDC funds for other needs.
“What the IDC would like to do is to withdraw those funds, to close that account, and so that that money can be appropriated for the snow and ice removal (costs from this year),” IDC member and Board of Selectmen Chairman Richard Nunes said.
The IDC was created as a source of funding earmarked to assist industrial businesses in developing in the Town of Rochester. According to Town Administrator Michael McCue, there has never been a situation of that sort in town since the creation of the fund.
Town Counsel Blair Bailey explained why there was no longer a need for the IDC.
“This issue is that in small towns, such as Rochester, the statute that the IDC is under has very limited reasons or purposes that you’re allowed to use the money,” said Bailey, “for certain things like industrial development studies and things like that.” He continued, “While we certainly appreciate the creation of it when SEMASS started it, it’s really not something the Town of Rochester needs, frankly, and this money’s been sitting there for quite a long time.”
This $88,000, once freed up, is how the Town hopes to cover some of the cost of the over-expended snow and ice removal budget from fiscal year 2015.
Money will initially be taken from the stabilization fund to pay for the snow and ice removal for the 2014/2015 winter, which brought more than 60 inches of snowfall for the town by the end of March and caused the total cost of snow removal to exceed $160,000. The corresponding amount will then be applied from the newly-dissolved IDC account to the stabilization fund.
The vote passed unanimously following little discussion.
Prior to the IDC meeting, the Board of Selectmen heard from Chuck Shay, appraisal technician for the Town on the subject of Article 17.
According to Nunes, Article 17 was intended as a way to do a preliminary semi-annual tax collection to estimate tax bills from the previous year.
“The reason for doing that would be so that we could send out a tax bill and get revenue,” Nunes said after the meeting. “What’s happened in the past is that tax bills have to go out before the end of the calendar year and the Department of Revenue has had typically been unable to certify the tax rate at the end of the year.” Nunes continued, “So the treasurer would have to request the Board of Selectmen do short-term borrowing into the stabilization fund so that we can pay the Town’s bills.”
He further explained that this practice would hurt the Town’s credit.
“If they’re looking at you, having to do short-term borrowing from your stabilization, they frown upon it because it shows you’re not managing things well,” he said.
During the meeting, Shay and the other representatives from the Board of Assessors said that Article 17 was unnecessary as they would be able to get the Town’s tax bills out by October, thus eliminating any need for the Town to borrow from itself.
The board agreed to withdraw Article 17, but it must be officially passed over at the June 8 Town Meeting since the warrant has already been posted.
During the meeting, McCue delivered a warning to members of the public that there may be disruptions in new services from Eversource as the union representing the local workers has ordered work stoppage until a dispute is settled.
McCue reminded the public that Constitution Way in Rochester will be closed to traffic July 27 through July 31 as part of the First Congregational Church’s week-long Bible camp.
McCue also updated the board on the initiative to get Rochester named a Tree City, USA. He reminded those in attendance that the Town celebrated Arbor Day this year and planted a tree in honor of the holiday. The application for Tree City is completed and will be submitted later.
The next scheduled meeting of the Rochester Board of Selectmen is June 15 at 6:30 pm at the Rochester Town Hall.
By Andrew Roiter
