Recreation Center asks town for tax break

Citing continuing financial difficulties, the directors of the Edgar May Health and Recreation Center have asked Springfield for a tax stabilization agreement.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20100826/NEWS02/708269938

Published August 26, 2010 in the Rutland Herald

Recreation Center asks town for tax break

By Susan Smallheer
Staff Writer

SPRINGFIELD – Citing continuing financial difficulties, the directors of the Edgar May Health and Recreation Center have asked Springfield for a tax stabilization agreement.

The request, made last week, is under active consideration, said Town Manager Robert Forguites, who said Wednesday the board had requested additional information and would take up the request at its next meeting, on Sept. 13.

The town manager estimated that the tax forgiveness that the center was seeking was about $40,000, out of its annual $50,000 bill.

Forguites said Douglas Priestley, a local businessman who serves on the recreation center’s board; George Lamb, the board chairman; and Christian Craig, the recreation center executive director, made the presentation to the board.

Forguites said the board requested a tax stabilization agreement would would mean the center would be paying property taxes on 25 percent of its assessed value for the next three years. Currently, the center is paying only town taxes, and not state education taxes, since the Springfield Hospital designated the center for an exemption as a health center. Under that exemption, which had been extended for two years, the center doesn’t have to pay education taxes.

Craig said the three years of the proposed tax stabilization plan would give the center time to work out its financial and tax issues.

Craig said the center, which is nonprofit and essentially functions as a YMCA, is not taxed under Vermont law.

In June, the town and the recreation center worked out a payment plan for its delinquent taxes.

At the June board meeting during which the delinquent tax issue was resolved, dozens of residents showed up, both in support and in criticism of the center.

Townspeople voted to designate the recreation center, then known as the Southern Vermont Recreation Center but since renamed in honor of Edgar May of Springfield, a moving force behind the creation of the center, as the recipient of the $3 million from the state, in return for the town’s decision to host the new state prison.

Craig said the Springfield recreation center was one one of two such centers in the state, and the only one that pays local property taxes. The center’s current tax bill is $50,000, he said.

Meeting that tax bill is difficult, not just because of the weak economy, but because the center’s endowment is down because of the decline of the stock market. The center decided to ask for a tax stabilization agreement, he said, because other organizations in town get an exemption.

Craig said the board wanted to know about the demographics of the people who use the center, which has three different pools, including a therapeutic pool used by patients at Springfield Hospital, a wading pool for children and a regular competition-sized pool.

Craig said the center has been giving out about $24,000 in scholarships a year, with 75 to 80 percent of those scholarships going to Springfield residents.

In addition, the center is used by the “Prescription for Exercise” program, in which residents enroll for an exercise and nutrition program if recommended by a primary care physician. Their fees are subsidized by a grant, he said.

Springfield has regularly granted tax stabilization agreements to businesses. The most recent was to the Winstanley Corp. for its renovation of the former Fellows Corp. headquarters in North Springfield.

Craig said that board wanted to know about the proposed other phases of the recreation complex, and Craig said “the need is there,” but the $5 million to complete the project is not.

Once those phases of the project are built, Craig said, the “diverse revenue streams would make it viable.”