A group of residents has kicked off a fund-raising effort to help lessen the impact of community center construction on property tax bills and hopes to get several million dollars in pledges before the Town Meeting funding vote on March 23.
The Town Meeting motion, which hasn’t been drawn up yet, will include a request for a specific bonding amount that will be affected partly by what other sources can be tapped to pay for the building. Residents authorized design of a community center at 100% of the cost of an earlier estimate (about $24 million) at a Special Town Meeting in December 2023.
The group is applying for grants from corporations and other organizations as well as donations from “Lincoln individuals and organizations that are well established,” Peter Von Mertens told the Select Board on January 8. An upcoming townwide mailing will offer naming rights for at least 16 parts of the building in return for donations at various levels.
Von Mertens is a member of the Council on Aging & Human Services (COA&HS). Its affiliated private nonprofit, the Friends of the Lincoln Council on Aging (FLCOA), has promised to match every community center donation dollar for dollar, he said, adding that the fundraising effort hopes to reduce the project cost “virtually down to [the 75% option]” by raising $2 million to $5 million.
The FLCOA’s latest tax statement shows it has $1.73 million in assets and no liabilities. Some of its funds have been restricted by donors to specific activities such as field trips or speakers, Von Mertens told the Lincoln Squirrel, “but we do have $1 million in the bank and hope to give it all to help support the community center.”
“This will help residents’ attitude toward the project [as] cost has been a big factor in people’s thinking,” said Jim Hutchinson of the Select Board, which endorsed the fundraising effort. Anyone interested in making a tax-deductible donation should contact Von Mertens (petervonmertens@gmail.com) or COA&HS Chair Dilla Tingley (dillatingley@gmail.com).
Also in the mix is the Ogden Codman Trust, which helped pay for the town pool several years ago and has distributed an average of about $200,000 in grants and loans annually in recent years for various projects and causes in Lincoln. In 2022, it provided grants ranging from $1,818 to $95,000 to the St. Vincent de Paul Society – St. Joseph Conference (which runs the town’s food pantry), the Parks and Recreation Department, Codman Community Farms, Mass Audubon, Farrington Nature Linc, Historic New England, and the Town of Lincoln.
Town officials have “opened conversations” with the Ogden Codman Trust and “they were very excited to get involved in the [community center] project — they loved the idea of participating,” Town Administrator Tim Higgins said. Details such as the structure of a possible grant (a one-time amount or spread over several years) and specific dollar figures have not yet been discussed, he added.
“The Trust has had a very preliminary discussion with the town regarding a potential grant to help fund the town’s proposed community center,” trustee Susan Monahan confirmed. “The Trust will not provide any further information regarding subsequent discussions, but rather will look to the Town to provide any such further information as appropriate.”
In the upcoming town budget, the Finance Committee may also recommend applying a certain amount of the town’s stabilization fund to help pay for the project. Voters approved adding $1.44 million to the fund a year ago.
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