Lanesborough Looks to Compromise with BHRD and Current Mall Owners
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — The Select Board considering a compromise with the Baker Hill Road District and JMJ Holdings to facilitate a sale of the Berkshire Mall.
Newest board member Julie Baker on Monday said she has been looking into the road district's history and its negotiations for the past 18 months, trying to fulfill one of her promises when she ran for a seat, to help resolve the stalemate over the mall property.
In February, the board signed an agreement with JMJ Holdings, which says it has a potential buyer for the mall, Cypress Equities.
"We all want to facilitate that purchase. I mean, the goal of the mall seller and us and the district, the Baker Hill Road District, is to be able to conclude that deal and to expedite the redevelopment of the mall," Baker said.
Baker said she is interested in talking with the district to ascertain whether the Select Board can have a stronger collaboration with the it and work together, including filling a seat that has been held by John Goerlach on the district's Prudential Committee.
Baker hopes to continue negotiations and keep the district in place.
The road district recently passed a fiscal 2027 budget that is a little over $800,000, which she hopes to reduce.
"What I'm proposing that we would explore is to continue negotiating with JMJ while keeping the Baker Hill Road District in place, but working with the district to basically restructure the finances. So that would mean, nothing specific right now, but talk with them about taking this $800,000 budget," she said, "And looking at ways that we can lessen the tax burden on the mall properties while keeping in place the special taxing authority."
Baker gave the history of the district that was created in 1989 to maintain the connector road as a public way and assess and collect a special tax that the town is unable to do. It also included the disbursement of annual payments to town's Fire, Police and Public Works departments to mitigate the mall's impact.
Currently the board has been in talks to dissolve the BHRD if JMJ Holdings paid around $1.1 million to settle an outstanding tax dispute. The vote was supposed to go to town meeting in June but was ultimately taken off the warrant because JMJ Holdings not making that payment.
She explained there are two uncertainties: if the special town vote for the dissolution of the district fails then the negotiations for the mall falls through; if it passes, then it would have to go to the Legislature since it was created by a legislative act. The state in 2018 recognized the district as an economic developer.
Baker questioned if the one-time payment from JMJ was in the town's best interest, citing funding for public safety services. She said in dissolving the district, the town would lose the special taxing ability.
"If we leave the special district in place, as a board member, I feel that that is something that allows us to still tax that commercial district in a special way to provide public safety services, primarily police and fire. So, police officers, police cruiser, and fire engine that are provided, and also road maintenance. So those amounts of money have been coming in over the years to the town, and what they do is defray our taxes."
Currently the district levies $68 per $1,000 of assessed value on top of the town's property taxes. Baker believes they could lower the tax rate along with the district's $800,000 budget by shifting the treasurer and clerk services to the town, which would also eliminate payroll processing.
Chair Deborah Maynard also said the Prudential Committee, which receives $10,000 a year each, should be cut stating they should be public-service oriented roles, with modest stipends to around $1,000 instead.
"Is it possible to operate the district with a lesser budget and set a lower tax rate? I believe it is, and I believe that if we work with the district to negotiate with them and also add an appointee to the prudential committee, then we can work to get that extra special district tax contained, so that it might be more attractive to a future buyer of the mall."
Board member Jason Breault asked why the district didn't lower the tax rate when the mall was struggling or why it kept taxing the mall after the bond for the road was paid off.
Baker said the town would then have had to maintain the cost of the road. But Breault said they could have discussed handing the road off to the state to dissolve the district then. Baker said he made a really good point and that she wasn't there when these decisions were made.
"But the point is that we have it within our power to work with the district now, and figure out if we can take charge of that rate now, and we can also, in parallel, check with the state and see if we can have the state take over the road, which would at least we take out the DPW amount."
Breault said the town should see if the state can take the road as it is a burden to the DPW especially in the wintertime.
Board member Michael Murphy said it was worth having a conversation with the district but is worried about the current mall owners as they have been pushing for the district to be dissolved.
"My gut says there is no compromise as far as they're concerned. That's what it appears to be. So if we get the district willing to do it, but you're going to take an $800,000 budget and maybe make it a three or $400,000 budget, is that going to be enough to satisfy the current owner of the mall as well as the potential new owner of the mall, who seem pretty dead right now set on 'we can't go forward unless the district is eliminated,'" he said.
The board voted to authorize Murphy and Baker to talk with the district to see its officials will agree to pursue a special act to amend its founding legislation to reduce its powers or to redefine what it can charge, and if not, to go ahead with the dissolution.
"First step would be Baker Hill Road District. If they don't want to make any concessions and if they don't want to reorganize through special legislature, then it's done and over with. As far as I'm concerned, then I think we should go ahead with the disillusionment," Maynard said
Tags: Berkshire Mall, road district,
