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Moore sends letter to Senate President,
House Speaker seeking reimbursement to Town of Uxbridge for property
taxes lost due to the Bernat Mill fire on July 21st
July 30, 2007...Today, Sen. Richard T. Moore sent a letter to Senate President Therese Murray and House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi seeking $35,000 in funding to offset the loss property taxes generated by the Bernat Mill complex. The mill was destroyed by fire on July 21st, displacing more the 60 business and their employees. "Of course, this appropriation is but the first of a series of possible steps I would hope the Legislature will take to address the needs of those the fire has impacted," Moore said in his letter. A piece of legislation, H 4182 is already working its way through the House of Representatives. This bill would provide tax relief for fire victims by allowing the town to re-value real and personal property for tax purposes as the value immediately after the fire. It also would allow funds previously allocated for Hurricane Katrina relief to be used for disasters such as the Bernat Mill fire. Under your leadership, I look forward to moving this bill through the Senate and hope that the Legislature will be able to help address some of the other financial and social impacts of the fire as they become apparent." The complete text of Sen. Moore's letter is below:
July 30, 2007 The Honorable Therese Murray Dear Madam President: As you know, on Saturday, July 21, 2007, an eight-alarm fire destroyed much of the Bernat Mill in the town of Uxbridge. In the immediate wake of this disaster, the town, state and federal government responded with precision and care for those impacted by the fire. I am writing in the hopes of continuing this response. Though time will tell the fire’s complete impact, we already know that it is far reaching. The fire has decimated over 60 small businesses, municipal and school department office space, resulted in what will undoubtedly be significant fire-fighting and public safety expenses to Uxbridge and its surrounding communities, destroyed a valuable commercial and cultural attraction in the town's historic center, and eroded the tax generating potential of the mill. As site clean-up commences, the property owners, town and state will have to carefully consider the need for brownfield’s remediation and other environmental clean-up funding, as well as various grants such as block grants, energy and technology grants, historic preservation grants that will be essential to successfully rebuilding this important regional commercial and cultural asset. To begin addressing some of these issues, I would like to request the inclusion of the following line-item in any upcoming appropriations bill: Department of Revenue 1233-XXXX For the purpose of reimbursing the town of Uxbridge for taxes abated The town estimates that prior to the fire, the Bernat Mill would have generated $33,428 in property tax revenue. This appropriation would reimburse the town for this lost revenue, rounded off to reasonably account for new growth increases. Such appropriations are not with out precedent. I have enclosed an excerpt from the state budget from FY 1978 that I helped obtain for the town of Millville after they experienced a similar mill fire. Of course, this appropriation is but the first of a series of possible steps I would hope the Legislature will take to address the needs of those the fire has impacted. A piece of legislation, H 4182 is already working its way through the House of Representatives. This bill would provide tax relief for fire victims by allowing the town to re-value real and personal property for tax purposes as the value immediately after the fire. It also would allow funds previously allocated for Hurricane Katrina relief to be used for disasters such as the Bernat Mill fire. Under your leadership, I look forward to moving this bill through the Senate and hope that the Legislature will be able to help address some of the other financial and social impacts of the fire as they become apparent. As you know, it is rather customary for disasters of this magnitude to offer some level of reimbursement to the town that is the site of the disaster as well as to communities that responded by covering overtime and lost equipment directly related to fire suppression at the disaster. Once the fire department completes its work, I would hope that the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency will survey the responding towns to calculate the mutual aid costs for potential full or partial state reimbursement. In addition, the Uxbridge School Department will need help in renting a new site for its alternative education program that was housed in a portion of the mill. While that portion was not destroyed by fire, the smoke and water damage as well as surrounding clean up and construction activity will make it unusable for the coming school year. If the students have to be educated out of district, it will add about one million dollars to the cost. Finally, several of the small (many women-owned) businesses do not have strong enough financial resources to be deemed acceptable for commercial loans or SBA loans. At least one of the local bank presidents suggested that if the state could use some of its resources to guarantee at least 50% of such loans, the banks could go forward with those businesses. Perhaps there is an existing program or a program could be established using a portion of the hoped for remaining Katrina funding. Loan guarantees may end up not costing the state anything if the businesses are able to regroup. Again, thank you for your continued support of the town of Uxbridge and those impacted by the Bernat Mill fire. It has destroyed what was a developing economic success story in the Blackstone Valley, and left many of my constituents wondering how they can rebuild their lives. While the state will not be able to alleviate all of the hardship from this fire, I am confident that we will continue to marshal all available resources to lessen its impact as much as possible. Sincerely,
RICHARD T. MOORE cc: House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi |
