To the Voters of the Towns of Fairlee, Thetford, and West Fairlee

For three years the Selectboards of Fairlee, Thetford, and West Fairlee have worked together to come up with a silution for the failing Lake Fairlee Dam. Failure of the Lake Fairlee dam will have a negative impact on all tax payers, not just those who own lake frontage.

 

HEARINGS - Monday 7:00 PM

Fairlee Town Hall - May 11, 2015
Thetford Town Hall - May 11, 2015
West Fairlee Community Building - May 11, 2015

 

DAM BOND and
INTERLOCAL CONTRACT VOTE
Tuesday May 19, 2015

Australian Ballot - Polls Open
Fairlee Town Hall     10:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Thetford Town Hall     8:00 AM - 7:00 PM
West Fairlee Community Building     10:00 AM - 7:00 PM

 


 

The engineering analysis has clearly determined that
it is not a question of if, but when the dam will fail.

Will the State of Vermont pay to fix the dam when it fails?

NO!

The cost of doing nothing:

Conservatively, valuse of the lakeshore properties would be negarivalay impacted by approximately 20% - 25% resulting in a loss of $12.9 million to $16.1 million in real estate values. We would see significant losses in all three towns' tax revenues and l other properties would see increases to their tax bills.

- Thetford
- Fairlee
- West Fairlee
a loss of -$123,000 to -$154,000 per year
a loss of -$84,000 to -$104,000 per year
a loss of -$60,000 to -$75,000 per year

 

What is the Cost of Replacing and Owning the Dam?

The Selectboards believe that the most equitable way to share the cost of replacing and then owning the Lake Fairlee Dam is by the Percentage of Lake Property Values.

 

Each town will be asked to individually bond for its share of a Bond not to exceed $850,000. Assuming a 20 year bond at a 2.75% interest rate, it breaks down as follows for each town:

Town % Share Bond + Int. = Annual Bond Payment Amount
Thetford
44%
$482,077
$24,104   +/- per year for 20 years
Fairlee
34%
$372,514
$18,626   +/- per year for 20 years
West Fairlee
22%
$241,039
$12,052   +/- per year for 20 years

 

Your Aproximate Future Tax Bill Based Upon Owning a Piece of Property Valued at $250,000

Borrow the Money and Replace the Dam
 
All Property
Thetford
+$18
Fairlee
+$23
West Fairle
+$43
Ignore the Problem and Not Replace the Dam
Non-Lake Front
Lake Front
+$90 to $112
-$1,758 to -$2,197
+$102 to $128
-$2800 to -$3600
+$213 to $266
-$3,169 to -$3,962

 

 

Selectboard Contacts: Fairlee -- Jay Barrett 333-4582                                                  
Thetford -- Stuart Rogers 785-4392
West Fairlee - Fred Cook 333-9905