We congratulate the Saugus Board of Selectmen for voting to terminate a complicated lease arrangement for Kasabuski Rink and hand the facility’s operations over to the state.
Town Manager Scott Crabtree, who has a strong financial management track record, accurately assessed the risk Saugus faced when he warned the town could have been liable for more than $3 million in rink improvements if it continued leasing the rink.
Saugus skated onto fiscal thin ice in 2008 when it signed a 20-year agreement with the state to operate the rink. The rink became too costly for the town to operate and a local decision to sublease the facility placed the town in the position of being a landlord hunting for a revenue stream to pay for an expanding fix-up list.
“Over the years, there were different things that needed to be done that just weren’t being done,” said Selectwoman Debra Panetta.
Panetta is one of the most experienced elected officials in the town’s history and her sobering assessment concerning Kasabuski’s operation should alarm all Saugus taxpayers.
Thankfully, selectmen voted to cut local ties with Kasabuski’s operation and the state is planning upgrades stretching into 2021. With the ongoing pandemic forcing local officials to look closely at finances, decisions like the Kasabuski lease termination make sense and represent prudent financial management on the part of local officials.
