7/30/1998 MASHPEE COMMONS ADVISORY COMMITTEE Minutes

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Y Chairman, Mashpee Commons Committee Town of Mashpee 16 Great Neck Rd.,No. Mashpee, MA 02649 August 3, 1998 Re: Tischler and Associates, Inc.-General Approach/ Operating expenditures/ Capital Expenditures Dear Selectman Marsters and Committee Members, I have reviewed the referenced analysis and have the following comments. The General Approach taken whereby only specific identifiable costs during the construction phase are utilized does not, in my opinion, provide a for a meaningful Financial Impact Analysis. Although it is meaningful to evaluate the costs VS income during construction, the more important measure is continuing impacts after completion. For example, when construction is complete the income from permits becomes negligible and actual cost increases. Why isn't the Boch Center included ? The new residents and businesses will have full benefit from the various investments Mashpee has made in land and infrastructure, yet no recognition of their obligation to share in the still outstanding principal and interest payments. The intent of the study is to determine the fiscal impact to the town. I think it is mandatory that new Water District Infrastructure costs be included. Additionally, the comparison of current to proposed zoning should include what the impacts of going to a separate tax rate (150 % of Residential) for non-residential property would be. This is the practice in a large number of Massachusetts Communities. The application of Level of Service (LOS) and Zero Percent (0 %) inflation is done in a manner that tends to understate cost projections and provide a more favorable than actual picture. Specific comments that provide a few examples of many understatements are : The utilization of"new employee" salary numbers does not account for training and step increases that are not a function of inflation. The step increases will put any employee at the top grade after much less than 20 years. A Police Car is not a one time capital expense. They have a useful life. While it may be possible to construct a rationale that if the only growth was this project, some services would not require added supervision and administration. At close to 200 dwellings added per year, supervision and