Invoice 01: Non-profit Entities

Hi Justine,
Thank you for those answers. For number #5, what are the numbers in the spreadsheet?

They don’t seem to be the amount Eagle Hill School paid the town. If I total up FY25 PILOT properties taxed, it is $5.1
million.
What is this spreadsheet telling me?
Thank you,
Jeff

Are those the amounts Eagle Hill School would have paid if they were billed like other property owners?

Thank you!!

Hi Justine,

Thank you for the invoice (Invoice 02).  I will come by your office with a check for $300 on Monday.

I understand that this request will take some time to fulfill, certainly beyond the 10 days for typical requests, due to the nature of the information beginning gathered (phone bills, text messages, emails, etc).  

I would appreciate you keeping me informed periodically as you make progress on gathering the information. This new invoice (Invoice # 02) looks very similar to the invoice I received previously (Invoice # 01 12/09/2024 $200). 

It seems a lot of the records that I requested under that invoice do not exist or at least still have not been sent to me, as I still have unfulfilled items under that request.  Would you kindly confirm all my requests under that invoice have been fulfilled to the extent possible given existing records?

Jeff

Hi Justine,

This is a follow up to my previous request under Invoice 01. I acknowledge that in your February 28 email reply you said that you gave me everything you were able to gather with a lot of assistance from the staff. 

As I had mentioned in my message following up my request under Invoice 02, there remain a number of items missing for Invoice 01. I am following up on those items here, please forgive me if I am missing any replies in my summation. 

Below are the original request items summarized per the conversation we have been having in this email thread regarding the items for Invoice 01, please let me know if I am missing any details:

1. Because the Sept 2014 agreement is referred to as a “revised” agreement, I take that to mean there would have been a previous agreement in place. At this time I have been unable to acquire a copy of that agreement. Would you be able to provide a copy or any other information regarding that previous agreement? If there was no agreement in writing, why wasn’t it in writing?Answer provided: “We are unsure what revised means, because we only have that one version of the 2014 agreement. The only thing we can think of is there was a verbal agreement between the Town and the previous Eagle Hill Headmaster in 2005.”
2. My previous follow up: The September 22, 2014 PILOT agreement with Eagle Hill would be the “revised” version of the agreement. I would like the details of the original agreement from 2005, as indicated by Vice Chair Vollheim per this quote from his email response to me: I’d like to claim credit for approaching Eagle Hill School years ago with Ms. Kolenda and coming to an agreement with the headmaster to make a yearly ‘gift’ to help cover Town expenses that the school incurs. A proto-Pilot agreement.
   Answer provided: “I have absolutely no information about the “verbal” agreement Mr. Vollheim referenced other than there was one between Mr. Vollheim and the previous Headmaster at Eagle Hill.”
   1. The answer to this question remains incomplete. I understand it was a verbal agreement and I understand that there is no documentation. Would it be possible to get a written statement from Vice Chair Vollheim regarding the specifics of the verbal agreement or at least to transcribe them here for me? Why was this information not gathered and included in the information given so far?
3. Why was there no payment from Eagle Hill in FY22? Did Eagle Hill School notify the town in writing of a hardship and to request a deferral? Was a deferral granted?
   1. Answer provided: “We found the FY22 payment. It was for $16,511.”
   2. My previous follow up: Thank you, at least it wasn’t $0. This still does not answer all of my questions for #2, however which were: Did Eagle Hill School notify the town in writing of a hardship and to request a deferral? Was a deferral granted?
      1. The answer to this question remains incomplete. Did Eagle Hill School notify the town in writing of a hardship and to request a deferral? Was a deferral granted? In the February 24 Select Board meeting Chair Kemp says it was the former Town Administrator who worked out the changed payment amounts with EHS, see also question 4. FYI: This is also a topic of my request under Invoice 02 (“Any documentation relating to the reduced PILOT payment from Eagle HIll School for 2022, especially any notes or communications with the former Town Administrator or Select Board members.”)
4. What are the specific criteria used to determine the amount of the payment? Why are the payment amounts for FY23 & FY24 less than FY21? What was the justification for the reduced payment?
   1. Answer provided: “From our Assessor Ms. Kolenda: The 2014 contract addresse d only the taxable private residences which were purchased by EHS and therefore came off the tax rolls. When the 2014 contract was signed I interpreted the meaning of the contract for me, as an assessor, to create a PILOT based on the value of the properties and the current tax rate for each year. Therefore, I valued the properties just like every other taxpayer in Town :- current market value, value of any improvements or if demo or remodeling was done, those adjustments were made as was any other taxpayer. This was an acceptable interpretation of the contract until Fiscal Year 2022 when the new CFO at EHS challenged my numbers. He maintained that the value of the properties should not reflect any improvement. That is why the FY22 amount went down, he adjusted back “credits”. From that point on he has averaged our values and applied them accordingly across the properties. I still generate the PILOT on my own assessing procedures, but I believe that we receive a payment from EHS based on their interpretation of the contract.”
      1. I consider this question materially answered, thank you.
5. Was legal counsel consulted for any of the agreements between the town and Eagle Hill School? If so, are there any documents or notes about this interaction? If not, why not?
   1. Answer provided: “There are no electronic or physical documents that were found for the 2014 PILOT Agreement. For the 2024 Sewer agreement. The prior Town Administrator and Town Counsel worked on that and there are records.”
   2. I’m afraid I am a little confused with this answer. Are you saying there are no electronic or physical documents that were found for either the 2014 PILOT Agreement or “For the 2024 Sewer Agreement”? You say “there are records”? May I have a copy?
   3. Answer provided: “Yes I have correspondences from our town counsel and our former Town Administrator. I have to check with Counsel to make sure they are not privileged.”
      1. I am still waiting for an answer and, potentially, any documentation that has been vetted by Counsel. What is the outcome?
6. How much tax revenue would the town have received if the property occupied by Eagle Hill School was taxable (ie. not non-profit)? How does this compare to and justify the payments the town actually takes in?
   1. Answer provided: “Please see the attached spreadsheet.”
      1. I consider this question materially answered, thank you.  The provided spreadsheet of computations from the Assessor’s office for 2014 – 2025 was very informative.
7. Any gifts from Eagle Hill.
   1. Answer provided: “According to our Town Accountant, there have been no gifts. However, Eagle Hill donated a generator to the Fire Department in December of 2023.”
   2. My previous follow up: So no monetary gifts, but they gave the Fire Department a generator. Didn’t they also donate decorative flags to be displayed in town?
      1. This answer is incomplete: Didn’t they also donate decorative flags to be displayed in town?  If so, is that truly everything?  Are you certain there isn’t anything else?
8. Payments from Eagle Hill from FY 14 and FY 15
   1. Answer provided: “I understand that Ms. Kolenda is currently on medical leave, so it will take some time to get the information for the forthcoming answers.”
   2. My previous follow up: I think that list is good, the only thing I would request would be any “gift” or “pilot payment” amounts from Eagle Hill to the town going back as far as records allow.
      1. Mr. Vollheim indicated in the February 28 Select Board meeting that the payments agreed upon would have been $25,000 per year. Are you certain that there is no record of these amounts being received by the town?

As I see it, questions #2 and #4 have been answered to my satisfaction.  I have highlighted the comments above where I think the question still needs a response.

Invoice 01 indicated that I was paying for 8 hours @ $25 / hour for a total of $200. Would it be possible to tell me how much actual time was spent so far and what amount of time remains on Invoice 01?

I am guessing that the funds from Invoice 01 are all used up which was the reason for the new Invoice 02, but thought that I should verify that.

Thank you!

Jeff

Hi Justine,


It has now been a week with no answer. Could you please at least acknowledge that my messages have been received and read?

Thank you,
Jeff

Hi Justine,

My answer is that I want all the emails I am allowed to have. No keywords necessary.

Jeff

Hi Justine,

I am still waiting for acknowledgement of my inquiries under Invoice #01. Can you please give me a status update? I understand additional documents have been found?

Thanks,
Jeff