Not So Fast

Public Pushes Back On TD Bank Purchase

TD Bank has offered to sell its North Main Street property to School Administrative Unit 4. (Tom Caldwell Photo)

BRISTOL — What had been scheduled as a bond and warrant article hearing turned into a discussion in which residents pushed back against the prospect of purchasing Bristol’s TD Bank location for use as a central office for School Administrative Unit 4.

The October 9 agenda was essentially scrapped because the bank had agreed to extend its deadline for a decision by residents of the Newfound Area School District in the wake of concerns expressed about the costs of a special meeting and unanswered questions about the tax implications of the purchase. Grafton County Superior Court had already approved the special district meeting, with a deliberative session scheduled for October 25 and a ballot vote on November 25. The change to the purchase-and-sales agreement allows the district to go through its regular budget process with a February deliberative session and a March ballot vote.

During a budget hearing the previous week, Bristol residents had expressed concerns about the loss of tax revenue from the bank property if it became district-owned. The town currently collects nearly $16,000 in taxes on the property, assessed at $665,400.

Citing the town’s loss of tax revenue due to previous purchases of the former Mill Stream Restaurant property, the Newfound Professional Building, and the Bristol Baptist Church parsonage, residents also noted that their taxes had increased from the construction a new public safety building.

TD Bank has offered to sell its property, which includes the adjacent building that SAU 4 currently rents, for last year’s assessed value of $665,400. If the sale does not go through, the bank would sell it at its current market value, and the SAU office might have to move or face a rent increase. Bristol has completed a revaluation this year, setting a new assessed value for the property at $1,087,700.