Cheryl Andrews & Michelle Jarusiewicz Rep. Sarah Peake We welcome full-time residents and visitors to join us at our Members’ Seminar meetings. Through the meetings we employ our policy of becoming informed in order to have a reasoned voice. Friends, you adhered to this policy with respect to the residential tax exemption. You conducted research, listened calmly and spoke reasonably. The PPRTA believes the residential tax exemption is divisive and would be detrimental to the community. The Finance Committee unanimously voted to not recommend further consideration of this exemption. We therefore call on the Board of Selectmen to take this matter off the table now so the community can focus on more constructive matters. Friends, continue writing to the Selectmen; continue to express your opinions in letters to The Provincetown Banner. (See Finance Committee meeting notes at the end of this letter.) Below is a calendar of our remaining 2014 Members’ Seminars. At our August seminar Provincetown doyenne Barbara Rushmore addressed us with a special appeal which she repeated in this week’s Banner. Barbara recommends that if part-time residents want a voice in the community we should register to vote in Provincetown. Indeed, we often hear this call from full-time residents and the PPRTA agrees. Barbara emphasized that full-time residency is not a requirement for registering to vote; part-time residents are fully eligible to register. Massachusetts residents, please consider registering to vote in Provincetown where your vote will count more than in Boston or Brookline. Non-Massachusetts residents should consult tax and estate planning professionals before considering this option. Friends, I look forward to seeing you all in the remaining weeks of the season. Regards, s- Steve Fossella DPW Director Richard Waldo was our guest at our September 13th Members’ Seminar meeting. Mr. Waldo shared with us the capital improvement plans for the DPW. Phase one will build a garage to protect the investment of new vehicles recently purchased, while phase two includes plans to consolidate the department under one roof by expanding the VMCC building. Many questions were raised about the details of the Capital Improvement Plan and Mr. Waldo was straight-forward in answering. We also learned details about our water treatment facilities, how our sewage plant functions, challenges related to road repaving, where our trash and recyclables go, and how the new solar panels are keeping our streets lit. The department is also responsible for all town buildings and grounds as well as the cemetery. It is a monumental task and we can be grateful for the diligence and expertise with which our Department of Public Works functions under the direction of Mr. Richard Waldo. September 27th is the date for our PPRTA Members Only Reception at PAAM. Members in good standing are invited to join us at 4:00pm for the reception followed by a viewing of “Provincetown in Print, Painting and Photography” narrated by Napi van Dereck and Jim Bakker. On October 12th we will meet with members of the Provincetown Finance Committee. These good folks have heard quite a bit from us lately in their official setting. This seminar is an opportunity to create a more interactive and informal rapport. Time/Location To Be Announced. October 25th will be our final Members’ Seminar of 2014. We will meet the Civic Engagement Committee in the Caucus Hall Conference Room, Town Hall at * 11:00 am.* Finance Committee meeting notes Sept. 15: The Finance Committee commented that the residential tax exemption was considered because of a concern that the towns year-round population is down to 2,600 and a way must be found to encourage families to live here to broaden the tax base. They found that the residential exemption does not resolve these issues. FinCom members said they are impressed with our association’s vigilance and they invited us to extend that vigilance to the CIP. Initial discussion centered on the overall debt of the town, which was estimated at 15 mil for the general fund, 21 mil for wastewater, 15 mil for pensions and 21 mil for retiree healthcare. 20% of our operating budget goes to debt service. Our S&P rating is only AA Stable and all but one other Cape Cod town has a higher S&P rating. One FinCom member made a comment about viewing part-time residents as part of tourism. Part-time residents in attendance commented that we are not tourists. A tourist is someone who visits a place and then leaves. In sharp contrast, part-time resident homeowners have made major long-term financial investments in the town and are committed supporters of town organizations and institutions ranging from SKIP to the town’s scholarship and elderly funds, Outer Cape Health Services, the public library, WERC, PAAM, FAWC and many other charitable and non-profit organizations. Tourists have none of these commitments to the town; they are here today and gone tomorrow. We hope that full-time residents acknowledge the difference and accept part-time resident homeowners as integrated members of the Provincetown community who can live here only part-time but who have made full-time, deep commitments to the town. There was some discussion about asking for special legislation tailored that would allow means testing” in certain tax situations. A recommendation for the warrant is to hire a lobbyist to try for a property transfer tax and short term rental tax for Provincetown. Next Mondays meeting will concern the lobbyist recommendation, reporting issues for police chief and town council, and residency requirements for Town Manager, Police Chief, and DPW Director. Finance Committee meeting schedules and agendas. Board of Selectmen meeting schedules and agendas. --- Provincetown Part-Time Resident Taxpayers Association email: Ptown.NRTA@gmail web: pprta.org --- PPRTA announcements, minutes of our discussions and other communications may not be posted or redistributed without permission. The information contained in this email and any attachments are intended solely for the use of the named addressee(s). Any unauthorized copying, disclosure, retention or distribution of the material in this email is strictly forbidden. logo design by Sean McCabe Copyright © 2014 Provincetown Part-time Resident Taxpayers Association, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email as a benefit of membership in the Provincetown Part-time Resident Taxpayers Association. Our mailing address is: Provincetown Part-time Resident Taxpayers Association PO Box 1686 Provincetown, MA 02637 Add us to your address book unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences Provincetown Part-Time Resident Taxpayers Association pprta.org
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 01:42:16 +0000
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