I bumped into a local lawyer at lunch yesterday and mentioned the  PEA Performing Arts Center project.

Just threw it out.

I ventured that it will probably be approved, it’s the Academy.

Right?

He agreed.

I wrote in a previous post that I had no idea Gilman St was a public way so the Town maintains it.

Driving back home  today after morning call with Auntie  it really hit me. None of those buildings you see on Tan Lane pay any taxes. They all receive the  education exemption and the new Performing Arts Center will fall under that exemption too.

PEA paid about 800K in taxes last year to the Town.

The monthly lease on the Hannaford Plaza, just that small piece of turf is about 100k, a month.

Just an illustration of the  differences in cost of doing business for private schools and grocery stores.

As I said previously  I wouldn’t get all worked up about giving up an alley, when you already handed them the farm.

The word “dominates” popped in my head as I flashed past Tan Lane. I went looking just now to see if my mind was true.

I found a list of top boarding schools which of course included PEA and a brief snippet on each school.

As you drive into the scenic colonial town of Exeter in southern New Hampshire, you are quite aware that Exeter, the school, greets you from every quarter. The school dominates the town at the same time as it draws the town into its community and life.

http://privateschool.about.com/od/schoolsnh/p/exeter.htm

Riverwoods is our largest tax payer and paid 2,844,688.00 in 2012 , that same  year the Academy paid 782,087.00. Just 36% of their property being taxable.

Think about it, this huge complex, holding down all this turf. All those facilities  require and receive fire protection. I have never heard of any schedule of meetings between the Town and the Academy. Why not an annual summit? There is in my view without constant communication a real potential for drift and that would be too bad for all.

  I am not naive relative to jockeying for position but the tales told of the ongoing stadium well process were for me  beyond that fun.

That really turned it for me.

That perhaps the relationship is not what it should be,and my reasoning points to the imbalance in taxes paid as the reason.

It just doesn’t seem right.

Mike