(Letter to the mayor and Borough Council of Fair Haven)

Our borough will experience downside consequences of the $1.2 million in new debt that council voted Aug. 24 to buy De Normandie Avenue riverfront for a new park.

Those who support the purchase may either be unaware of its adverse consequences for all of us, or they may feel that the benefits they will get outweigh our costs.

I've lived in Fair Haven for the terms of four mayors (Mr. Halfacre, Joe Szostak, Bill Leonard and Dave Hinton) and four administrators (Ms. Howell, Julie Horner-Keizer, Bruce Hilling and Mike Pellechio). How long is that? Thirteen years. Council turnover has been 100 percent.

Now we live in hard times. This is crabgrass — not green shoots — season.

Nationally the median sale price of a home has dropped about 30 percent. Let's say that in 2005-06 Fair Haven's median sale price reached $600,000. Now our sales are sluggish, and prices are down. If the median house were to close today, it might be for around $480,000, down about 20 percent. Selling prices are approaching our evaluations. I assume that tax receipts are down.

Council assured us on Aug. 24 that we are protected from potential exposure to cleanup costs from possible leakage from the in-ground oil tank on the property.

A

pril press accounts reported

an $8.1 million municipal budget and a 1.1 cent drop in our municipal tax rate. Our mayor and council president and full council are justifiably proud of this achievement.

Now we ask that you publish in Focus on Fair Haven how the 1.1 cent will be offset by this debt, loss of tax revenue, park development costs, and annual maintenance and enforcement expenses. How much is the addition

to annual debt service? Presently assessed at $1.1 million,

De Normandie pays $25,000 in taxes. Say that a $700,000 house is built. (Talk of a mega house or multiple units is a scare tactic. The size of the buildable lot, riverfront without a riparian grant, state restrictions, and present economic conditions all limit the possibilities.) A private home on the property would pay around $41,000 annual taxes, $8,600 (20.9 percent) to Fair Haven.

Please communicate in the Focus your figures. April press reports give $542,000 as the assessment of our average home. What is the assessment of the median home? What is the net tax impact of all the foregoing financial considerations associated with the De Normandie acquisition for the owner of the home in the middle cost range of our diverse town?
Rose Greco
Fair Haven