Dear Mayor and City Council,
I am writing on behalf of a group of concerned citizens, who were disappointed by the proposed deal that has been struck with New England Family Housing (TKB Properties) for the purchase of the beautiful Brown School for just $1. We, the taxpayers, have put hundreds of thousands of dollars into that building and would love to see some return on the investment. For any deal to be made to sell that building for just $1 is a slap in the face to all Berlin taxpayers.
You can not in good conscience sell this beautiful building for just $1.00 then turn around and once again increase our tax rate. Either we need this money enough to increase the tax burden on your residents, who are already paying the 4th highest tax rate in the state, or you have enough money to be able to give away a building. Which is it? You can’t claim that we have no money to fix our streets then take a building like that and give it away. That is not fiscally responsible.
The current proposal that is on the table is for New England Family Housing to remodel the Brown School. They would be seeking a $500,000 CDB block grant from the federal government. As we all know, nothing from the federal government is free, it always comes at a high price and with strings attached. This particular grant is offered specifically for those low to moderate-income applicants. This grant may come at a price that we should not be willing to pay right now. The CDB Block Grant is a grant that not only requires a majority (51%) of units to be designated to low to moderate-income housing but also has no citizenship requirements making it eligible for illegals and refugees.
Due to the fact that this building was only sent out as a Request for Proposals… contrary to what is being said by the current administration! Last fall it was, in fact, not put out for bid but sent out as a “REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.” A Request for Proposals is very different from a “Bid” and you will get a difference in who will respond. We respectfully ask that this building be put back out to bid and generously advertised throughout New England. We also ask that this be a very transparent process.
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
April 21, 2024
40 Comments
There is a condemned house next door that went for auction it is in ill repair the city would not take less than 2 thousand for it they got 7 thousand… it doesn’t have much land… that says a lot about the wisdom of this
If this is a legit deal we implore upon you to wait till after the first of the year. This seems a slap in the face to every taxpayer in Berlin. And screams of nepotism.
We need housing but cannot afford to give buildings away when some of us are worried about our excessively high tax bills.
I am a renter my brother pays taxes and my rent will go up. I work full time a single mom raising two! This is not right mr. Mayor!
As a life time member of Berling and going to Brown school as a kid. It's heart breaking to see it sell for just one dollar. I remember painting america on the pavement in 2008. This build has so much more than to sell for just $1.
Yes the building is worth more. It should be sold to benefit Berlin.
Berlin violated 91A Right to Know laws from the moment city council went into private session to agree to put out another RFP Planning board kept it going by ceasing to post their agendas and minutes on the city website and myself and two friends had to pull teeth from the secretaries etc for any information and planning board used euphemisms rather than say it was the school being discussed the Brown School subcommittee minutes were never posted or available and when information was finally were furnished after almost one month (and only after council was called out by I think it was Kathy (you go girl) they were incomplete these are just a few examples from the top of my head as type in haste as I need to log off the state needs to sanction council for their deliberate lack of transparency
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Dear Mayor and City Council,
I am writing on behalf of a group of concerned citizens, who were disappointed by the proposed deal that has been struck with New England Family Housing (TKB Properties) for the purchase of the beautiful Brown School for just $1. We, the taxpayers, have put hundreds of thousands of dollars into that building and would love to see some return on the investment. For any deal to be made to sell that building for just $1 is a slap in the face to all Berlin taxpayers.
You can not in good conscience sell this beautiful building for just $1.00 then turn around and once again increase our tax rate. Either we need this money enough to increase the tax burden on your residents, who are already paying the 4th highest tax rate in the state, or you have enough money to be able to give away a building. Which is it? You can’t claim that we have no money to fix our streets then take a building like that and give it away. That is not fiscally responsible.
The current proposal that is on the table is for New England Family Housing to remodel the Brown School. They would be seeking a $500,000 CDB block grant from the federal government. As we all know, nothing from the federal government is free, it always comes at a high price and with strings attached. This particular grant is offered specifically for those low to moderate-income applicants. This grant may come at a price that we should not be willing to pay right now. The CDB Block Grant is a grant that not only requires a majority (51%) of units to be designated to low to moderate-income housing but also has no citizenship requirements making it eligible for illegals and refugees.
Due to the fact that this building was only sent out as a Request for Proposals… contrary to what is being said by the current administration! Last fall it was, in fact, not put out for bid but sent out as a “REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL.” A Request for Proposals is very different from a “Bid” and you will get a difference in who will respond. We respectfully ask that this building be put back out to bid and generously advertised throughout New England. We also ask that this be a very transparent process.
Updates
Reached 100 supporters
April 21, 2024
40 Comments
I would think that after the riverwalk is put out to bid and completed,the brown school will be more attractive to investors and more option may become available,,certainly worth more than 1 dollar...
There is a condemned house next door that went for auction it is in ill repair the city would not take less than 2 thousand for it they got 7 thousand… it doesn’t have much land… that says a lot about the wisdom of this
If this is a legit deal we implore upon you to wait till after the first of the year. This seems a slap in the face to every taxpayer in Berlin. And screams of nepotism.
We need housing but cannot afford to give buildings away when some of us are worried about our excessively high tax bills.
I am a renter my brother pays taxes and my rent will go up. I work full time a single mom raising two! This is not right mr. Mayor!
As a life time member of Berling and going to Brown school as a kid. It's heart breaking to see it sell for just one dollar. I remember painting america on the pavement in 2008. This build has so much more than to sell for just $1.
Yes the building is worth more. It should be sold to benefit Berlin.
Berlin violated 91A Right to Know laws from the moment city council went into private session to agree to put out another RFP Planning board kept it going by ceasing to post their agendas and minutes on the city website and myself and two friends had to pull teeth from the secretaries etc for any information and planning board used euphemisms rather than say it was the school being discussed the Brown School subcommittee minutes were never posted or available and when information was finally were furnished after almost one month (and only after council was called out by I think it was Kathy (you go girl) they were incomplete these are just a few examples from the top of my head as type in haste as I need to log off the state needs to sanction council for their deliberate lack of transparency
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I would think that after the riverwalk is put out to bid and completed,the brown school will be more attractive to investors and more option may become available,,certainly worth more than 1 dollar...