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LIMESTONE – Four months ago, Loring Development Authority officials were fighting for the LDA’s annual caretaker money from the federal government.
This month, they are fighting with two federal agencies that have decided they should not pay for services they receive.
The LDA won its fight with the U.S. Air Force for caretaker money.
Now a national solicitor with the U.S. Department of Labor has decided the federal government should not pay the LDA for providing municipal services to the Loring Job Corps Center.
It doesn’t matter that the $135,000 Job Corps payment in lieu of taxes has been paid for the last seven years, nor that the payment was included in the agreement to have the Loring Commerce Centre host a center.
The national solicitor said there won’t be any payments after June 2003.
The Job Corps program at the Loring Commerce Centre, overseen by the LDA, is the largest user of municipal services, according to LDA President Brian Hamel.
The Defense Finance and Accounting Center has followed suit, saying it no longer would pay the annual $72,000 it has been paying.
The decisions, being fought by the LDA, could cost more than $200,000 a year.
“It’s a big, serious issue for us,” Hamel told his board Wednesday morning. “Both of the agencies have been paying the fees since they opened in 1995 and 1996.
“The decision started with a regional solicitor with the Job Corps,” he said. “We changed his mind, and now national decisions are being made. DFAS jumped on the bandwagon of the Job Corps decision.”
Prior to the two agencies’ opening up on the LCC, they had agreed to pay 50 cents per year per square foot of building space they utilized. This was a payment in lieu of taxes for services.
The Job Corps uses 270,000 square feet of space, while DFAS uses 145,000 square feet.
The LDA fees, called pilot fees, are part of the LDA’s overall operational budget.
“That’s a last-effort proposal,” Hamel said. “We are still trying to get the two agencies to see the light.
“They believe we are mandated to provide services for them,” he said. “We don’t believe we are.”
Hamel said the LDA has enlisted the services of Maine’s congressional delegation for assistance with the two federal departments.
The same issue was settled in Vermont with the Job Corps when the U.S. Department of Labor agreed to pay a “federal earmark” to cover the cost of municipal services for a center there.
Hamel said the same kind of earmark will be sought with the two federal agencies operating on the LCC.
One proposal would be to bill them a fee for services they actually receive.
Another proposal being discussed with the federal agencies is a large advance payment, about $5 million, that would cover fees forever.
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