Article 14 - Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in the Riverwalk Parking Lot - By Petition

Question:  Who determines whether the station is free or is something people are charged for? Does the Select Board make that decision? Who has input in that process?

-Sarah Steinberg Heller, High Street

Answer: Warrant Article 14 calls for spending up to $35,000 out of the Greater Downtown TIF District fund; this includes the cost of electricity. The decision was made by the petitioners, not the Select Board. The decision is before the voters.  The Select Board and the Budget Committee discussed the EV charging stations at their joint meeting on March 3rd:

Question: Article 14 for the Electric Charging Station in the Riverwalk Parking Lot by Petition: Who will own the Charging Station -- the Town or a private company? What are the actual costs for installing a charging station? Who will be responsible for the maintenance and upkeep, and what are those estimated costs? Since the Greater Downtown TIF (Tax Increment Finance) District will only spend up to $35,000, what happens if the costs are more and who will be responsible for them after the $35,000 is spent? Will the Town be obligated to pay costs of electricity for the charging station in coming years? Why did the Budget Committee vote to NOT recommend this article?

 -Loretta Laurenitis, Four Winds Farm Road

Answer:  No plan for purchase, lease, ownership, installation of, or cost of maintaining the charging stations was brought with the warrant article; should this article pass all of these questions would need to be explored.  With regards to why the Budget Committee voted not to recommend the article, please see the minutes or video of the Joint Select Board/Budget Committee meeting held on March 3, 2020.

Follow-up Questions: Am I to understand from your answer, Nicole, that by voting Yes on this article that we would also be voting Yes to mandate that charging stations be installed? I think that issue needs to be very clear so the voters know exactly what they are voting on. Is this a round-about way for the petitioners to get the town to be obligated to allow charging stations in that parking lot? And how many charging stations is this article for, since it does say "stations" plural??? Are the TIF Districts required to get voters to approve their expenditures? 

  -Loretta Laurenitis, Four Winds Farm Road

Answer to follow-up questions:  The article language is very clear with regards to what a “yes” vote would obligate the Town to do.  I cannot speak to what was in the minds of the petitioners.  TIF District expenditures typically flow through the Overall Budget unless the expenditure being requested is supported by a bond, which must be voted on by special warrant article. 

Question: Since the issue of a TIF District is raised by Article 14, where is the accounting for TIF Districts for the public to view?  Where do we find the money generated by each TIF over the years and what those funds have been used on during the existence of those TIF Districts? Do the TIF Districts maintain unused funds in interest-bearing accounts for future use or return unused funds to the Town's general fund?

  -Loretta Laurenitis, Four Winds Farm Road

Answer:  As with all other funds, the TIF Districts are addressed by the Auditor each year in the “Audited Financial Statements” report that is included in the Annual Report and is posted on the Town’s website with all other Annual Report documents.  The TIF district funds maintain unused funds in interest-bearing accounts. 

Follow-up Questions: I looked in that section and did not find the specifics I was asking for. Can you tell me exactly where to find the information for each of the TIF Districts?  Isn't there some kind of public record, over time, for each TIF District, showing an accounting of monies generated, projects undertaken, monies spent for those projects, interest earned, and balance of funds remaining?  If you cannot answer my questions, please tell me who can. Thanks.

   -Loretta Laurenitis, Four Winds Farm Road

Answer to follow-up questions:  No individual expenditures from any given fund are reported out since there are many thousands of individual expenditures paid out by the Town every year in the course of doing business.  Typically TIF funds are transferred into the operating budget, shown as a revenue for the given department or as an offset to a bond payment.  All of these are reflected in the budget, in the year-end revenue and expenditure status reports and in the audit report, all of which are available on the Town’s website and in the Annual Report.  The balance of fund remaining are included in the audit report.  Project budgets are also reviewed by the Auditor and included in his report.  These reports year to year are the public record for each TIF District.