Ken Knowlton: Article would hamstring Belmont Conservation Commission

To The Daily Sun,

Please vote no on Article 25 on the March 9 Annual Town  Meeting Warrant for the Town of Belmont.

It asks Belmont citizens “to see if the Town (citizens) will vote to reduce the percentage of the Land Use Change Tax that is deposited into the existing Belmont Conservation fund from 100% to 50%.” (This article was submitted by the Board of Selectmen.)

Two particularly important factors that may not be known by the voters are:

The Land Use Change Tax is collected from developers who have put their land into Current Use (to reduce their property taxes) until land values are conducive for them to begin developing them. When they take this property out of Current Use, they pay a tax, and 100% of these taxes are currently put into a fund that the Belmont Conservation Commission uses to purchase important land parcels that come up for sale. This money is used to purchase these properties and all potential land purchases must be presented to Selectmen for their approval.

Property tax 101 is quite easy to understand: lands that are not developed require no services and thus do not increase property taxes. Property that is developed (especially in residential zones) require town services such as fire, police, road maintenance and most notably schools. (Education costs approximately 70 cents of each dollar you spend for your property tax, depending on the NH town.) More residential development does not broaden the tax base and will not reduce property taxes. This myth has been around for far too long; it is just not true.

Again, the Conservation Commission uses the Land Use Change Tax money to purchase and conserve critical and environmentally important land parcels. (It is also their only source of funds to purchase and preserve such properties.) These properties provide open space for the citizens to use in many ways. Several years ago, the BCC decided that land along the Tioga River should be the area that was concentrated on, thereby protecting an important watershed and creating a significant riparian area within Belmont. Large land parcels at the beginning and end of the river as well as a number along it have been purchased by or donated to the BCC to date.

It is my opinion that the Conservation Commission truly needs to have their appointed Selectmen's rep present at as many meetings as possible. The Commission’s Select-rep could/should have discussed this with them before blindsiding them by adding such a draconian cut of funds to the warrant. The defeat of their proposed Article 25 would go a long way to show your support for the Belmont Conservation Commission and the extremely important preservation work that they do.

I respectfully ask the voters of Belmont to keep this in mind and please vote NO on Article #25.

Ken Knowlton

Former BCC Chairman