Saturday, May 11, 2013

Paying A Fair Share


 AFD arrives Hampshire College Admissions for false alarm today 2:25 PM

Not to pick on Hampshire College or anything, but they are the #3 landowner in town and they do charge students who attend top dollar, but they contribute nothing to the town for Amherst Fire Department protection.  Which they call on quite frequently.

UMass pays $325,000 annually (too little by the way) while Amherst College pays $90,000 for this vital public service.  And as I said (many times), Hampshire College pays zero.

Sorry, but that is unacceptable.  If they simple paid what Amherst College does for about the same usage we could afford to hire an additional two desperately needed full-time professional fire fighters. And we would all be better for it.

Or they could always donate a tiny slice of their large land holdings in South Amherst for our new, equally badly needed, South Fire Station.

Click to enlarge

27 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nice pie chart.

Anonymous said...

"Not to pick on Hampshire College"? The majority of your posts target UMass and its students, where does the problem come from with questioning Hampshire? How about you applaud UMass for once for helping to provide a vital public service? It's beginning to look like your agenda is to simply degrade UMass...

Larry Kelley said...

So you're saying out of 2552 total posts over the past six years more than 1,276 "target UMass and its students?"

I think not. Be even if that were the case, I'm a lone individual and "UMass and its students" would have me, sort of, you know, OUTNUMBERED.

Anonymous said...

Larry, how were the respective costs arrived at?

Larry Kelley said...

No idea. Next time I see Larry Shaffer I'll ask.

Anonymous said...

anon: The majority of your posts target UMass and its students...

Larry: So you're saying out of 2552 total posts over the past six years more than 1,276 "target UMass and its students?"

She should have said "the majority of posts that are not fluff like a photo of your kid shooting an arrow".

Larry Kelley said...

"She?" How could you tell?

Anonymous said...

$90,000 pays for two full time firefighters? That can't be right. Maybe one, almost.

Larry Kelley said...

I was doing what the Golf Course or Leisure Services does and not worrying about employee benefits or health insurance since they are paid from a separate fund.

Anonymous said...

Couldn't. "She", "He"...

which is proper in this case, Mr. Journalist?

Larry Kelley said...

When I'm talking to someone and using information on them I received from a source I wish to protect I use the term "they" so as not to give up gender.

Anonymous said...

I would be an awesome source of news and goings on, but you and many of your friends and a few of your frequent commenters have been such dicks to me and my friends that I can't imagine we'd ever make it happen. Plus you wouldn't wish to protect me.

That's why objectivity is so important in journalism.

Larry Kelley said...

Yeah the tired old he said, she said.

And if you profile Hitler in six paragraphs three have to be positive. Let's see, he loved his dog was good to his mistress ...

Anonymous said...

It's no secret Hampshire College is not a very stable place. Both financially and in leadership positions. From the president to admissions to academics they make those online chop-shop degree mills look good. Hampshire's motto should be "The tail is wagging the dog here"

Anonymous said...

I don't get what you said at all, about hitler and he said she said. Are you hitting the bottle again, Larry

Larry Kelley said...

Now that you mention it dealing with CAN's --especially today --is enough to drive a sane man (or woman) nuts.

Anonymous said...

Why do you allow anon comments again, Larry?

Larry Kelley said...

Because it takes an awful lot of coal to create a diamond. Or something like that.

Anonymous said...

Because it takes an awful lot of coal to create a diamond. Or something like that.

What? Dude, get some rest and I'll flood your inbox tomorrow.

Larry Kelley said...

I can't wait. Well, actually I can.

(Using can in the traditional sense of course.)

Anonymous said...

Commenting on the things i do and about the people i comment about, while knowing that I could be found out anytime the blog administrator wishes, and knowing that i will be eventually outed, is ballsy and courageous.

your tired CAN designation is moldy.

Larry Kelley said...

Do the schools have a psych counselor you can see?

I'm serious.

I will be happy to print out for him or her all the Comments of yours not published over the past 12 hours or so.

They clearly demonstrate an alarming decline into weirdness -- i.e. Norman Bates.

Dr. Ed said...

For what it is worth, had the woman who wasn't anywhere near a trail and twisted her ankle done it in New Hampshire, she would have been billed for the expense of extracting her from the mountain.

Even if she was billed the standard ambulance-ride expense, this is a case where it clearly cost a whole lot more money.

Which raises the question of the actual costs of providing service which doesn't necessarily correspond to number of calls. For example, the Rolling Green fire was just one call, but reportedly chewed up most of the overtime budget.

Further, while the AFD may never see the money, the college kids are paying for these ambulance rides and thus the actual cost of providing them must be the net expense, after the billed revenue is deducted.

Anonymous said...

Excellent point, actually terrific post regarding Hampshire College. You are right in everything you said, most of the students pay full tuition as, no or very little endowment and they (the college) GIVE NOTHING TO THE TOWN. It is about time they do. Thank you for a decent post. Actually, the Boston Globe did an article last Sunday about many small colleges in Massachusetts going out of business and that many had 'open seats' for next year's freshman class and Hampshire still had open seats. Therefore when and if they do go out of business , what happens to the land. A great place for a Ken Burns documentary!!!!

Dr. Ed said...

Therefore when and if they do go out of business , what happens to the land.

In a case of Bankrupcy Liquidation, where the entity ceases to exist (i.e. "go out of business"), the court liquidates the assets with a fiduciary duty to do so in a manner to get the most possible money -- with this then being distributed amongst the creditors.

In other words, they sell it to whomever will give them the most money for it -- and the purchaser is essentially able to do whatever he/she/it wants to with it.

You want to be upset with the Gateway Project and Cinda Jones -- you don't want to even conceive of what a bankruptcy court could authorize! Cinda lives in Amherst and has roots there -- some Bankruptcy Trustee in Springfield or Boston simply wouldn't care about anything more than getting the most money possible for the asset.

Anonymous said...

Wait, wait. You said "I will be happy to print out for him or her all the Comments of yours not published over the past 12 hours or so. "

That would make an EXCELLENT spinoff from this blog, LK. God knows the bizarre, funny, and perhaps bordering-on-deranged posts you don't even approve (including MINE) are probably even more entertaining than the regulars.

Larry Kelley said...

I'm saving them for a chapter in my book.