Why is Brattleboro Subsidizing Millionaires investors at the Brooks House?

by joegreen | Opinion | 3955 Views

Why
is Brattleboro giving tax breaks to a group of millionaires who bought the
Brooks House and want to put in luxury apartments?  What if the project fails?  If the
project goes belly up, what is the financial guarantee to the town? Will the
town contiue to pay rent to Brooks house for the Harmony lot? Will the town
recoup the thousands of dollars it has already put into the Brooks house?

I encourage  taxpayers
to write to the Selectboard and oppose the subsidie for millionaires.

joe green

Comments | 5

  • Submitted by Will Stomp on March 24, 2013 at 4:20 pm

    Chicanery?

    Joe, I think that you need to do a bit more research before throwing out all of these accusations. For example I don’t think Stevens Assoc. is building the police or fire stations, but perhaps doing the engineering work.

    I will say, though, to your point, that it seems rather strange that Mesabi, LLC which owns and is renovating the Brooks House is so happy to receive town, state and federal aid when one of the principals has stated emphatically that he “hates taxes.”

    • Submitted by fishboy on March 25, 2013 at 7:39 am

      what a whiner

      What are the anticipated taxes that this building will be contributing to the town once it is fully occupied?

      I think that is more important to analyze this rather than tar the “millionaires” that you are attacking for investing in downtown residence. And the “attack” on one of the investors, ovey, get a grip.

      I doubt anything would have happen with this building unless some type of breaks were offered. Clearly the old owner wasn’t in a position to foot the bill. This is a huge project, one that I imagine was difficult to gather together an investment group, find a bank, etc. You should be so lucky that this building is not remaining a burnt out empty shell.

      • Submitted by joegreen on April 8, 2013 at 7:48 am

        Look carefully at taxes

        Actually, because Brattleboro taxes are such a mess and there are so many incentives, we do not know how much tax there will be. The Windham Land Trust no one knows what is the accurate amount they pay to the town, not even the town finance office.

        The previous owners of the Brooks house gouged tenants, and put almost no money back in the building.

        These multimillionaires are asking for tax breaks and subsidies, and there is no guarantee on the amount of taxes they will pay.

      • Submitted by spoon on April 11, 2013 at 4:34 pm

        Can you share a little more

        Can you share a little more about the owner’s finances at the time of the fire? Why can that person clearly not afford to rebuild?

  • Submitted by tomaidh on April 11, 2013 at 8:53 am

    So, who are these

    So, who are these millionaires?

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