GRAFTON — A nonprofit group working to restore the Grafton Center Meetinghouse is asking voters to forgive $6,000 it owes the town in taxes and legal fees stemming from a yearslong legal battle over the Route 4 building.
Mascoma Valley Preservation, or MVP, submitted a petition warrant article requesting permission to forgo payments inherited from the property’s prior owner, Peaceful Assembly Church.
MVP has so far returned $13,000 in legal fees that Grafton spent contesting the circa-1797 building’s tax-exempt status, according to Andrew Cushing, the group’s president.
He said in am email on Tuesday that remaining payments would be “better spent” on matching grants and renovations planned for later this year.
“MVP is in fundraising mode, with hopes to raise $95,000 by June,” Cushing said on Wednesday. “This work includes removing the spire added in 1983, but the bell tower from 1856 will remain.”
But town officials argue MVP owes more than it’s letting on. Even if residents decide to forgive the $6,000, the nonprofit still needs to settle unpaid 2017 and 2018 property tax bills, according to veteran Selectboard member Steve Darrow.
He added the building’s 2019 tax bill was paid.
“They’ve done everything great and the church looks great,” Darrow said during Wednesday’s Selectboard meeting. “But I’m concerned about (unpaid taxes).”
Darrow, who has donated to MVP’s restoration efforts, said the nonprofit is making timely payments agreed to as part of an August deal, which saw Grafton withdraw objections to the meetinghouse sale in exchange for $7,000 after closing, $6,000 within 90 days of closing and another $9,000 within a year.
However, those payments don’t include about $4,400 of unpaid taxes left over from Peaceful Assembly’s ownership, he said.
“It should be noted that the Selectboard did not waive any property taxes,” Darrow said, reading from the town’s September newsletter. “The tax debt from 2017, 2018 and 2019 are still due and that debt will be transferred to the new owners.”
However, the Selectboard voted earlier this month to forgive $3,000 in MVP-owed fees after touring the meetinghouse building and inspecting its new weatherproofing.
The Center Meetinghouse, which was badly damaged in a 2016 fire that killed church founder John Connell, has seen its roof covered and decorated barn quilts now adorn its windows. Volunteers also have cleared debris from inside and outside the building, removing the clutter accumulated over past years.
Before MVP’s efforts, an engineer had labeled the building “structurally compromised.”
Cushing, who could not be reached for comment on Wednesday, said in December that the nonprofit had raised about $60,000, including donations and in-kind materials and labor.
The group also received $150,000 from New Hampshire’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Program, which will require MVP to raise matching funds. The grant will go toward a new meetinghouse roof, restoring the building’s interior and removing a non-historic spire and vinyl siding that had been installed in recent decades.
Darrow, the Selectboard member, said the tax issue must be resolved. But he still hopes work on the meetinghouse will go forward.
“I’m extremely happy with what they’ve done to the church and the direction it’s going,” he said.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.