Since 2002, William E. Clark has been director of business development for Portsmouth, acting as a liaison between businesses and the town. He’s organizing the town-wide Planning for Portsmouth’s Economic Future Workshop to be held later this month. He spoke with Providence Business News recently about why businesses are good for the town.
PBN: How do businesses and the taxes they create fit into the Portsmouth economy?
CLARK: The town economic-development committee (EDC)had been looking at a shrinking commercial and industrial tax base in the town. It had dropped greatly during the mid-1990s and late 1990s, when the resident tax base grew so rapidly through growth and also through revaluation. The commercial [tax base] used to be about 19 percent of the total … and it had shrunk to about 9 percent. And that was the driver behind the town’s economic-development committee preaching to the [Town] Council, saying, “We have got to do something.”
The EDC recognized that commercial tax revenue is so much more tax-positive to the town than residential tax. A dollar of taxes collected on commercial property returns about 70 cents to the town, whereas a dollar of general residential property costs the town about $1.16. So that was the focus that the EDC wanted to concentrate on.
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PBN: And when was your position created?
CLARK: [It’s] existed now for more than six years. And the town has been supportive of continuing each year. … In the EDC’s annual report to the council in December, they highlighted with some very good graphic material the continuing budget crunch we are in and the shortfall that is very imminent with the shrinkage of federal and state funds. … It’s a problem facing all the towns and cities and the state.
PBN: What steps has the town made to make up those shortfalls?
CLARK: Looking ahead, the EDC is looking to make up the gap – trying not to sacrifice the quality of life here in Portsmouth – and they have been looking at this for the better part of a year and a half. They started identifying … strengths and weaknesses that the town has and some of the opportunities. The town may have to offset by growing the commercial tax base as a means of providing a better balance, trying to take some of the burden off the residential.
PBN: Tell me how the Business Enterprise Zone works into that?
CLARK: Well, Portsmouth is very fortunate to have a portion of the town in one of the state-designated enterprise zones. That’s focused on the west side of the town, the area where we find our marine industries. Raytheon is over there, the Portsmouth Business Park is over there and the potential future release and possible development of the [280 acres of] U.S. Navy tank-farm land is there, too. That is viewed as one of the potential strengths the town might have if we capitalize on it the right way.
[The enterprise zone] is being threatened right now, with the governor’s budget-balancing act. That’s one of the tax credits that are being considered [for elimination] by the tax study group. We’ve been fortunate that when it’s been threatened in the past our local business and community leaders have [complained]. … The tax credits in the enterprise zone relate to a business actually growing a new job. There’s no promise that we will potentially grow jobs or a prediction that if you give me the credit, I will grow my business. These credits are given out to individual businesses for actual jobs created – no credit is given until the actual job is created and it applies to our larger companies, but really applies to all the small companies that are trying to get going.
PBN: How does that work into this upcoming workshop?
CLARK: [It] is going to be an all-day workshop on Saturday, March 21. And the participants provide a pretty good cross section of town – all the active committees, all the active groups in town, people we hear from who are constantly voicing concerns about the direction the town is taking. There will be business leaders from the town, both big and small businesses, and, obviously some representatives from the marine industry on the west side. …
With the aid of a facilitator that we’ve hired for the day, we’ll break out into about five or six work groups and embark on looking at ways that the town can preserve itself, that it can create some economic vitality so that will ease the squeeze that we’re getting on the raising taxes and the loss [from] various state and federal revenue funds. The objective, then, is to get a consensus that we recognize the problem. We want to be able to say: These are some of the things that we feel can be researched and looked at as potential solutions.
PBN: What new projects are in the works in Portsmouth?
CLARK: We have been active in advocating for the new Weaver’s Cove development, the new large marina and on-shore development of housing units. I think the economic-development committee, in fact, in support of the growing of the commercial base, recognizes that there’s a demand for valuable land here in town. And they certainly recognize that there isn’t going to be some large industry coming here. But when much of the land – including where Carnegie Abbey is located or where the old Weyerhaeuser lumber depot was – was being acquired and converted to residential, they realized that it’s a different type of residential that doesn’t have the same type of negative revenue stream as general residences do. The people are generally part-time residents and for the most part don’t have kids in the school system. We have created a designation called recreational-residential, which has grown and now makes up about 4.5 percent of the total tax base of the town. Three years ago, it was virtually zero. That, combined with the commercial, has been a blessing to the town. •
INTERVIEW
William E. Clark
POSITION: Town of Portsmouth director of business development
BACKGROUND: Clark served as chairman of the Portsmouth Tax Assessment Board of Review for 10 years. He held that position after a 35-year career working in real estate management and sales for Mobile Oil.
EDUCATION: B.S. in business administration and economics, Central Michigan University; Navy active duty 1961 to 1964, followed by 23 years in the Navy Reserves.
FIRST JOB: Clark worked sacking groceries and stocking shelves in a supermarket as a teenager.
Residence: Portsmouth
AGE: 71
