This is how the City of Nashua’s mayor wants transparency but in reality, the mayor is stealing money from the taxpayers’ to pay off for his Downtown Master Plan. Remember the Nashua mayor is only interested in downtown.
Related: Residents Are Afraid to Do Business in Nashua City Hall – Even with a Confirmed Appointment
If any Nashua resident wants to find out about the TIP (Tax Incentive Program) that the City of Nashua has, forget it. The legal team is trying to keep the Nashua resident in the dark.
The city of Nashua has a “committee” called Tax Increment Financing Advisory Board however their minutes are all in draft form and they are like no other board’s minutes – just a summary. That is one way to keep residents in the dark.
The mayor has set up these TIP programs to distract the Nashua residents from what he is doing with the money.
At a Board of Aldermen meeting of September 20, 2020, it was stated that there is a “gap” of $6,000,000 however the TIP could be used for that. In short, the mayor is taking money away from the Nashua General Fund and paying off the PAC with taxpayers’ money.
At a Board of Aldermen meeting, of February 23, 2021, the mayor was upset because both Aldermen Lu and Aldermen Jette were asking actual questions and the mayor did not like that at all.
Aldermen Lu asked “I wonder will the payment in lieu be available to the School Street Parking Lot Bond” ($2,500,000 Bond) that was taken out by Nashua taxpayers.
Attorney Bolton replied: “I am not certain what you are speaking of talking about a “payment in lieu.” Is there something in the proposed amendment that discusses a pilot agreement or payment in lieu of taxes?”
A Nashua resident could ONLY assume that an attorney representing the City of Nashua would have read the agreement before going to a meeting to discuss it and that the Nashua taxpayers are actually paying this his salary is worse.
Attorney Bolton continued: “if city property is leased and used by a third party which is subject to taxation, in other words, not entitled to a charitable, religious or educational exemption that the user the lessee of publicly owned property is obligated to pay taxes. Now there are exceptions to that and there are possibilities of payment in lieu of taxes.
Attorney Bolton made no comment as to where this property had payment in lieu of taxes and IT DOES. Talk about being open and honest. I guess Attorney Bolton does not want transparency either.
Nashua’s mayor went on to state: “The parking is paid for by the property taxes that will be generated by this housing and it also generates enough property taxes to help pay for the Performing Arts Center ($400,000). Money from this project has already been approved to be applied to the Performing Arts Center to help offset the cost. “
I hope Nashua residents realize that when the mayor made a resolution for the Maximum Price for the Performing Arts Center he did not include all expenses. SO BOTTOM LINE IS THAT THE MONEY RAISED ON THE TIP PROPERTIES CAN ONLY PAY FOR MORE IMPROVEMENTS TO THE TIP AREA WHICH INCLUDES THE PAC. However, the mayor can change that anyway he wants because if this was the case the $2,500,000 Bond that the Nashua taxpayers had to take out for the parking garage would have been paid by these funds. However, the mayor chose to have the Nashua taxpayer pay this bond so he could use the money for his Performing Arts Center.
Nashua residents better start waking up because as reported on the 2020 MS-1 submitted to the DRA, the balance of valuation for the TIP area is $47,230,300.
This is how the City of Nashua’s mayor wants transparency.
