Neary Building Committee shows tax-impact calculator, projects costs for NEARY proposal

The Neary Building Committee on April 29 demonstrated a public-facing tax‑impact calculator and reviewed seven‑year financial projections tied to the proposed NEARY project, saying the tool will let residents see both total projected property taxes and the portion attributable to the NEARY proposal.

Committee members said the calculator accepts a small set of inputs (for example, name or address) and displays tax projections through fiscal 2032, and that a separate column isolates the portion of the projected tax bill the committee attributes to the NEARY project. Andrew (committee member, advisory role) said the presentation shows “what we believe the portion of those taxes would be related to the new project” and walked the committee through the tool during the meeting.

The committee emphasized the calculator is backed by a detailed budget and capital‑plan assumptions available by link for users who want to review source numbers. Andrew said the tool compares a “no” scenario (the town continuing with the previously adopted capital plan) against a “yes” scenario (the proposed NEARY project) and presents a right‑hand column that isolates the project’s contribution. He said the intention is that many residents will find the NEARY portion small relative to total taxes.

Committee members discussed alternate construction and financing scenarios. One participant described a base‑rental scenario and said the net town cost under that option would be about $39,000,000, and that, after operational changes, that scenario would be about $7,000,000 more than the four‑school configuration over the project term. Andrew also said he estimated operational savings from a three‑school configuration compared with four schools amount to roughly $57 million to $60 million over 33 years.

Committee members raised technical and campaign‑finance considerations before distributing the calculator more widely. A website contributor present at the meeting said the calculator currently sits on a separate web page that requires a password; the committee agreed it needs a CNAME or a subdomain and coordination with the NEARY website owner before broad linking. Members also discussed generating a QR code for event handouts and slides so attendees can open the calculator during presentations.

On campaign‑finance concerns, the committee discussed advice from the Office of Campaign Finance and staff guidance: the group agreed that posting links where residents opt in is different from mass distribution that might trigger campaign‑finance rules. One member said the office responded quickly to a previous query and the committee will confirm specifics before any mass messaging.

Tim (website contributor) said the calculator’s data “comes directly from Andrew and his model” and offered to provide a QR code once technical hosting is decided. The committee asked staff to confirm campaign‑finance constraints and to finalize hosting so the tool can be linked publicly.

The committee said the calculator will be shown during the committee’s presentation at town meeting and that the advisory committee’s presentation will also incorporate the tool; they discussed a single‑page median/average taxpayer view for town‑meeting attendees.

The committee did not adopt policy or change assumptions at the meeting; members framed the session as demonstration and technical preparation for public outreach. The committee scheduled additional communications and a separate finance communication to follow the general public letter.