Castle's tax-exempt status?

[Sue Doe-Nym]

The snowmobile situation is pretty much a forgotten problem at this point. The LRCT and their very unpopular director at the time, Tom Curren, went out of his way to make a lot of enemies, including snowmoblers. FYI, the landowners who permit snowbilers are covered by insurance provided by the state.

The continuing unresolved issue with the LRCT referred to in the newspaper article is simply a question of should a tax exempt entity make some sort of PILOT, payment in lieu of taxes, to a town to cover some of the costs a town incurs for providing services to the tax exempt entity. Moultonboro has many that make such payments. The churches in Center Harbor all voluntarily pay town taxes whereas the LRCT which has it's offices in Center Harbor has refused to pay anything.

Many people feel that the LRCT should pay something in view of the fact that they have removed many properties from the tax rolls. In the case of Moultonboro the LRCT and it's related entities own property assessed at approximately $18,000,000. At current tax rates this represents a loss to the town of around $160,000.

Based on the newspaper article the LRCT is making money; therefore, is there any reason they should not make some sort of token PILOT to cover town expenses such as calls by police and fire departments to the Castle.