ANSWERS TO LONG-ASKED QUESTIONS
There have been a “few” questions on here lately that have remained unanswered. The one that has been asked the most and remains unanswered is “what is the ‘substantial’ payment in lieu of taxes that BHS paid to The City Of Pittsfield?

BHS (or just BMC): A Whopping $118,000 ‘doantion’ in lieu of taxes on a tax value of $3,644,422

According to the FY12 City Budget (Line Item Budget – I FINALLY found it!!), on page 18, under “Estimated Local Receipts”, there is a line item entitled “Payment In Lieu Of Taxes” with an amount of… drum roll please! … A Whopping $118,000. Here’s the link:http://www.cityofpittsfield.org/pittsfield/FY_2012_Municipal_Budget.pdf There goes the credibility of Steven Colbert!!!!

So I went to the new property assessments that were recently released and I can only find “Berkshire Medical Center” – there are no listings for Berkshire Health Systems. (Question for everyone – where can I find the names of the 26 Corporations that are under the BHS umbrella?) [EDITOR’s NOTE: YOU CAN FIND THIS LISTING IN THE PLANET OF DEC. 2, 2011] So for just BMC, the properties listed there have a total assessed value of $118,398,760. At the 2011 Commercial Tax Rate of $30.95 per thousand, the amount of tax they would owe, if not “tax exempt”, is $3,664,442.00. And they gave a “substantial donation” of $118,000. Remember, this is JUST Berkshire Medical Center and does not include the other corporations (Hillcrest Commons, Greylock Extended Care, on and on).

[EDITOR’S NOTE TWO: THE $118K payment on a tax assessment of $3.664 million amounts to three-tenths of one percent. Hardly “substantial,” which is how BHS characterizes their “donation” to Pittsfield in lieu of taxes. This is a tax dodge, pure and simple. And legal. Remember, there’s two sets of rules: one for Them, and one for the rest of you unwashed masses.]

Pittsfield Property Taxes to Rise — Again

Speaking of taxes, did I miss an announcement that our property taxes are being raised AGAIN this year? The new rate is $16.18 per $1,000 (up from $15.19) and the new Commercial rate is $33.70 per $1,000 (up from $30.95).

REALLY???? Again?? This is according to the FY12 City Budget (page 19 on the above link). Perhaps this will still need to be approved by the new mayor and the new city council? I have NOT seen this at all – I was shocked! Can anyone shed any light on this?

Also take note of the new school budget on page 23, of $63,548,902. Didn’t Dr. Eberwein tell us that it was $52 mil last year? Plus the $15 mil Maintenance/Insurance and $15 mil in grants, plus the $7 mil I forgot from where bringing it to $89 mil)? Yet the FY2012 City Budget is listing a School Dept. Budget of $63.5 mil??? Up 11.5 MILLION? Everyone should take a look at this budget – but be prepared and have a barf bag close by!!! Oh – by the way, using the new commercial tax rate of $33.70, the amount of tax BMC would owe would be $3,990,038 (the better part of FOUR MILLION DOLLARS). And again, this is JUST BMC!!!!

Hey, School Department, Guess the State Doesn’t Like What You’re Doing as Much as You Do

Speaking of the School Department, Dan has asked a few times (the last time on Dec. 1st) where the State’s Review (Level 3 District Review of the Pittsfield Public Schools) is and what were the results? I found this as well and it is not nearly as complimentary as what Dr. Eberwein made everything seem to be in the PPS Annual Report!!! Here’s the link to the state’s review (can’t wait for Dan to read this and then comment on it!!):http://www.doe.mass.edu/sda/review/district/reports/level3/10_0236.pdf
Even the numbers don’t seem to be the same as the PPS Annual Report, or maybe it’s just me and my sorry memory. Here’s the link to the PPS Annual Report for reference: http://www.pittsfield.net/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/Final-annual-report.pdf

Going After the “Not For Profit’ Tax Dodgers

I was glad to see that Dan still thinks that the City of Pittsfield can do something about these “not-for-profits” and perhaps start collecting some of those tax dollars!! Personally, I’m not convinced, but I do like his optimism and perhaps he is right since as I said in my post, somehow the city of Boston was able to strong-arm them into paying something (but then they didn’t end up doing it?? What?? Some politician get in the way of that or what? That sure smells of something rotten!)

Somewhere I found (I’ll look up where tomorrow and let you know) that the Tax Exempt Organizations in Pittsfield have a total income amount of $626,248,800 and a total asset amount of $719,226,484.

Not only are they exempt from property taxes, they are also exempt from income taxes (state & federal). Just going through all of these organizations and finding the ones that should not be tax exempt, on a national level, could sure help close the deficit in a hurry!!! And for the property taxes in Pittsfield, I just cannot beeeelieve that they get away with this crap and now the city is raising our taxes yet again? I am SO LIVID!!!

Does anyone see a reason why Carr Hardware & Supply Company would be listed as a “tax exempt company” on both GuideStar.org and taxexemptworld.com?? I also happened to see that the Dakota Restaurant has filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy and that one of their debtors is Carr Hardware. And in this document, the Dakota Restaurant (Pittsfield DWH, Inc. – Sirloin Saloon) lists Carr Hardware as a tax exempt company. Hard to believe – I’m so hoping that there is an error somewhere.

Skaters Away, Like Gulls at Play

As for the skate park, how can a sign that reads “use at your own risk” be a legal thing when you are dealing with kids? How many 14 and 15 year old boys go out riding their bicycles and go to the park without their parents knowing? Probably most. There are so many people out there just waiting for an opportunity to sue someone whom they believe has money and I guarantee you that there will be lawsuits against Pittsfield.

There’s no one there to enforce them wearing helmets, or being aggressive and wiping out the little kids, etc. I drove by there today and was stopped at the red light on the corner and watched these little kids (like 6 or 7 years old) on their little scooters about to get absolutely creamed by the bigger kids.

Especially for them I was thinking, “where are your parents? You’re about to get hurt pretty bad!” I actually couldn’t watch as when I was, I wanted to roll down the window and yell to them “watch out!” I can’t believe the money we spent on that, and also the money we’re spending on The Common, so that the drug dealers will have a nice place to sell their drugs!

What parent today allows their kids to go to The Common alone anyway? I went to parks as a kid, but that was an entirely different time and there’s no way that I’d allow my kid to go to a city park alone today – even if the city spends millions making it “pretty”! And yes, I agree – the skate park WILL be trashed and it will be overrun with drug dealers – guaranteed. And I agree that the gangs will “tag it” prior to January 1st.

Perhaps the Police get very discouraged making many arrests only to have the Judges release them on $500 bail and then they’re out there doing the same thing again within hours! I know that I’d sure be discouraged by that! I thought that from what I read about the Morningside Meeting, that the residents repeatedly said that they were very scared (terrified) of calling the Police and having these punks find out that they did.

That’s a very real thing as these punks and gangs take seriously the “don’t rat out – no matter what” saying and they WILL punish them for calling the cops! That’s their home, that’s where they live, and these little punk terrorists are making them live in fear. And the city nor the police really addressed that at all. For the amount of money that we’re paying in taxes, I think that Mayor-elect Bianchi had better take this stuff seriously and start being MUCH more proactive in stopping it.

I’ll reply to the doctor article in a separate post as I have some personal experiences to share about this topic.

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