It's been some time since our last email to you. We have much news to share, particularly with regard to continued increases in taxes for part-time residents.
All of us at the PPRTA understand how challenging it can be to focus on these issues when you're not a full-time resident. We know how hard it can be to stay informed when you're pulled in many directions, but I urge you to pay closer attention to what is happening in Provincetown. It affects your bottom line.
The time to be apathetic to these changes has passed. Look at your tax bills over the past six to seven years and calculate the changes. You're paying more now than you ever have, and unless we are able to affect meaningful change at the state level, that trend will only continue to worsen. Part-time resident taxpayers already pay more than $1.1 million in additional taxes in FY 2018 and FY2019 to fund a tax cut for full-time residents.
The PPRTA is on the front lines to speak for all part-time residents. We are actively engaged in fighting for your rights, but we need your help.
We need more part-time residents to become members, and we need help to take the fight to the state level in order to ensure all part-time residents have the right to vote on town issues. After all, part-time residents are paying 85 percent of the residential property taxes in Provincetown, the largest funder to town coffers, but have NO SAY in how that money is spent.
Our Board of Directors recently voted to change the terms of our annual dues to a calendar year. So, beginning in 2019, it will be easy to remember to renew. If you already renewed your membership, or renew before January, then you are good until January 2020.
Our modest dues will also increase from $25 to $35 on January 1, 2019, reflecting our increased operating costs and need to do more in order to fight for the rights of part-time Provincetown residents. If you'd like to renew early, our Board will personally match any renewals we receive before January 1, 2019. Renew now and your support goes further!
We also strongly encourage you to consider a separate donation to our Action Fund to help us in hiring an attorney and other professionals to fight for the voting rights of Provincetown part-time resident taxpayers.
Thank you,
Steve Fossella
PPRTA Board President
RESIDENTIAL TAX EXEMPTION INCREASED AGAIN
The Provincetown Select Board voted to increase the residential tax exemption from 20 percent to 25 percent, reducing the valuation of a full-timer’s property by $115,639. This is an all-time high. For a home valued at $500,000, this means that a part-time resident will pay $851 more than a full-time neighbor. We have no doubt Provincetown will continue to increase the take to the 35 percent maximum sooner rather than later.
In the fiscal year 2019, 703 full-time residents are set to receive $631,000 in tax savings, an increase of $151,000 or 31.5% higher than FY 2018 due to the 25% exemption. Yet 28 full-time residents will have such low property valuations they will not be able to receive the full stipend. Isn’t it ironic that the people you would assume most need the help, have property valuations so slow they cannot get help through this part-timer tax?
You recently received your tax bill. Payments go to an office Medford, MA but you can let the government in Provincetown know you oppose the part-timer tax. Copy your bill and write “Paid In Protest” on it and mail to:
Town of Provincetown
Collector of Taxes
260 Commercial St.,
Provincetown, MA 02657
SELECT BOARD SUBMITS PROPOSAL TO AMEND TOWN CHARTER IN ORDER TO STRIKE PARTICIPATION FROM PART-TIME RESIDENTS
The Select Board also submitted a proposal to Town Meeting seeking to amend the town charter to strike any participation for part-time residents.
Selectmen Donegan said in a recent news article that part-time residents can always speak up at public hearings. However, we know that without the weight of a vote our voices go unheard and unheeded. Check out Jack Peak’s Local Access interview with the PPRTA and TNRTA,“Part-Time Resident Taxpayers: Taxation Without Representation."
PPRTA IN THE NEWS
One of the new goals for the PPRTA is to be more visible in state and local media in order to ensure our voices are heard.
You may have seen our ads in the Provincetown Banner. We ran eight weeks of ads during the high season to encourage dialogue and share our point of view.
The PPRTA was featured in Jack Peak’s Local Access interview with the Truro Part-Time Resident Taxpayer Association entitled “Part-Time Resident Taxpayers: Taxation Without Representation." Watch it HERE.
Part-time resident groups on Cape Cod and in the Berkshires are working together to give part-time resident taxpayers a meaningful voice in local government. After all, where part-time residents are the major taxpayers in a community they deserve a say. Connecticut, Delaware, and eight other states give part-time resident taxpayers a vote.
WELCOME NEW PPRTA BOARD MEMBER CHRISTINE WALKER
We welcome Christine Kunewa Walker, executive director of the Provincetown Film Society and Provincetown International Film Festival, and a part-time resident to our Board of Directors. We’re grateful for the skills and energy Christine brings to the PPRTA.
TAKE ACTION:
We need your help now more than ever before to fight for the rights of all Provincetown Part-Time residents.
Renew your membership or join for the first time because we cannot do this without you. Click HEREto join/renew.
Encourage friends and neighbors to join us. Numbers matter!
Volunteer on a PPRTA committee or serve on our Board of Directors because we need your help. Contact us at ptown.nrta@gmail.com
Please make sure to "Like" the Provincetown Part-Time Resident Taxpayer Association on Facebook! It's a great place to connect with other Provincetown part-timers to discuss the issues and challenges that we face.
About the PPRTA:
The Provincetown Part-Time Resident Taxpayers Association works for the betterment of the whole community of the Town of Provincetown by providing a forum and a voice for the interests of Provincetown part-time resident taxpayers, most of whom must make their voting residence elsewhere.
Goals
Maintain and support the unique quality of life that exists in Provincetown.
Advocate for representation on budget-related issues for part-time residents of Provincetown.
Provide a forum for part-time resident taxpayers to communicate with local, regional and state governments.
Encouraging the participation of part-time residents in all aspects of the community.
