Nashua residents did not realize how they were going to be taken to the cleaners on this Performing Arts Center. Aldermen Dowd stated in 2017 that he did not care how much it cost but that he wanted the PAC no matter what. Well, this administration has really given it to the Nashua taxpayers.
First, it was the extra $1.8 million in contingency money that padded the construction money that was taken out by the Nashua taxpayers. That meant that if Harvey Construction did not go over budget the money would go back to the Nashua taxpayers. However, that is not happening in this case. The mayor and Board of Aldermen are going to give the $1.8 million back to the new owner of the Performing Arts Center, NPAC.
Then the Nashua taxpayers just paid a bill to the NPAC for $23,274.74. When looking into this payment a resident would find out that the Nashua taxpayers will be paying the property taxes on the Performing Arts Center forever.
Then there was the question of how much rent the City of Nashua taxpayers would be paying to rent back the building from the new owner, NPAC. Well, the first year’s rent will be $500,000. As a resident I did not expect to pay rent on a building that the taxpayers already paid $21 million for.
Bottom line is that our mayor and Board of Aldermen really did not care what it took to get the Performing Arts Center and to make sure of that, this administration has taken the Nashua taxpayers to the cleaners. How many more bills for the Performing Arts Center will be the responsibility of the Nashua taxpayers.
