Notes from the Old Noank Jail

To our Friends and Fellow Groton Citizens…….

As we approach the Final Hours prior to the Groton Referendum, the following commentary by former RTM member Genevieve Cerf is very appropriate. Once again, it becomes obvious that the Phase II project in its present form is not acceptable. We need to find a better, less expensive way, to deal with our educational needs.

If you agree, it is critically important that you (a) VOTE NO for Phase II on Monday, May 2nd and (b) that you notify your friends and neighbors who might still be “sitting on the fence” about this issue.

Here is Gen’s message for everyone:

“Subject: The real total cost to the taxpayers of Phase II is $104,544,000 — Who forgot to add the cost of debt service?

My calculation of the total net cost of Phase II to the taxpayer is at best $104,544,000 including debt service.

From any mortgage amortization web site, if you input the numbers from the “Explanatory Text” on the Town of Groton web site — a principal amount of about $66 million borrowed at 5% interest over 20 years — the total amount of interest which has to be paid over the period of the bond is $38,544,000. So if we add this to the $66 million principal of the bond, our total cost is $104,544,000.
It is hard to believe that when you borrow something for 20 years at 5% interest, the total interest you pay is over 50% of your loan amount, but there it is. This is why banks love lending us money and get very rich doing it… and probably why we go on fixating on the low 5% interest rates we get these days and not on the total we’ll pay over the years. We are in similar denial about our mortgage and credit card debts by the way…
My conclusion is that the $60 million in savings we are promised over the next 25 years pales in comparison to this number. We are a town of only about 10,000 properties and 40,000 people. It is mind-boggling that while we are still only a few years into paying for Phase I and the Senior Center, we can even be considering adding another $104,544,000 to our tax burden.
Further, the $60 million in savings from the Education Budget is not a true savings on the overall Town Budget. For almost all the schools which are planned to be closed, the Town has plans to move something new in there, which means our maintenance costs for those buildings and activities will continue to grow.
I am as much in favor of infrastructure and education improvements as anyone else, but common sense should prevail. We simply can’t afford this right now.
If you divide 104,000,000 (total real Phase II bill, including debt service by 20 years, we have to pay about $5 million a year for the next 20 years…. to be shared by 10,000 properties so that’s an average of $500 each for 20 years.

Only about 5% of the residential properties in Groton are valued over $300K-$500K, so a lot more of that has to be paid by people who now think most of that bill will go to taxpayers with higher assessments.”

In conclusion. Genevieve’s commentary above speaks for itself, and we are grateful to her for taking the time to bring this our attention in such a highlighted fashion.

Vote NO for PHASE II Vote YES for THAMES STREET

Thank you all for your time for the past few days. See you at the Polls on Monday

Ed Johnson, at the Old Noank Jail