The Londonderry Town Council voted to provide a tax exemption for part of the Baldwin Senior Living property during its most recent meeting.
“The owners of this senior care facility have requested a charitable tax exemption pursuant to RSA 72:23,” Assessor Steve Hamilton wrote in a memo to the Town Council. “The exemption is requested on the portion of their property that is used and occupied to fulfil their charitable purpose. There is undeveloped land and approvals in place for an additional 64 units, leaving a total of $5,120,000 taxable value on the property.”
During the meeting, Hamilton explained that they filed the claim because they qualify for a charitable tax exemption and that they reviewed all the materials closely.
“The Baldwin Senior living has requested that the property be exempt from taxes on much of the value of the property,” Hamilton wrote. “Careful review of the application and additional financial documents indicates that this is a valid exemption request.”
He explained that the goal of their charity is to provide care for people. “They made a commitment to people who enter into their program that they will never have to bill them for their inability to pay.”
As part of the application submitted to the Town in April, it stated:”The Baldwin Senior Living (the “Applicant”) is a nonprofit, voluntary New Hampshire corporation obligated by its Articles of Agreement to act exclusively in furtherance of the following charitable purposes:
To meet the housing, health care, and financial security needs of aged individuals by:
(a) establishing, maintaining and operating a continuing care retirement community or similar facility or facilities that provide housing, food services, health services and other services in the continuum of care to elderly persons; (b) providing financial security to the residents of its facilities, to the extent possible within its resources and those of the communities it serves, by (i) maintaining the residency, at less than its regular charges, of any existing resident who becomes unable to pay such charges, and (ii) operating such facilities at the lowest feasible cost to residents (taking into account the nature of the facilities and all of the related expenses and obligations, including without limitation appropriate reserves and contributions to the delivery system of which they are a part); and (c) participating in the delivery system of affiliated nonprofit senior housing and care organizations developed and managed by Edgewood Senior Solutions Group, Inc.”
Hamilton explained that when they received the request, they met with the then Acting Town Manager and Finance Director to discuss changing the value for their June bill to match what they were expecting them to pay based on the exemption being approved.
He also explained to the council members that there is no specific amount of charitable requirements needed per year in order to qualify, and that they just have to follow what the State rules are. “Clearly they do,” Hamilton said.
He also informed the board that earlier in the year, the decision was made to grant the Baldwins the tax exemption they qualified for on their June bill. He explained there would be a sizable abatement otherwise.
Earlier in the meeting, during public comment, Kate Burbidge explained that if they received a 100% exemption, it would raise the tax rate from $16.14 per $1,000 of assessed property value to $16.28, which would mean an increase of approximately $93 for a $640,000 home.
If the town received half through a PILOT program (Payments in Lieu of Taxes), it would still mean a $50 increase for a $640,000 home, she said.
Due to the validity of the request, Town Manager Shaun Mulholland warned the Town Council that if they don’t grant the exemption, “you can be sure they’re going to file litigation and they are going to win.” Adding that the town would also have to pay the Baldwins’ legal fees.
Despite some push-back by two members of the Town Council, ultimately, they approved the exemption request for those portions of their property that are used and occupied for their charitable purpose, and also approved allowing the Town Manager and Assessor to negotiate payments in lieu of taxes with the applicant to result in terms most favorable to the Town.
The council did, however, mention that if the state law changed, and the Balwins no longer qualified as a non-profit, the town could go back to charging taxes on the entire property.