The Republican-led city of Taunton seeks $115,000 from the 155-room Clarion Hotel for housing more migrant families than it can safely hold, thanks to a deal with the Democrat-run state.
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Mayor Shauna O'Connell, a Republican, told NBC that the city was told last year that 18 migrant families would be housed at the Clarion — but that number quickly shot up.
'Shortly thereafter, the entire hotel was occupied by more than a hundred families and ceased operating as a hotel,' O'Connell said.
'Within a couple of months, the hotel had converted entirely to an emergency shelter and housed approximately 445 people at any given time.'
This is more than the 350-360 people the seven-story building is allowed to house, officials say, so the city began issuing fines for occupancy violations.
Fines between May and September last year mounted to $114,600, which is the basis of a nonpayment suit now pending at Bristol Superior Court, according to WCVB.
O'Connell says residents and business complain about the lack of a hotel and the surge of migrant kids packing into nearby schools.
An investigation by The Fall River Reporter found that the number of 911 callouts has soared since the migrants arrived.
The hotel gets about one emergency callout each day, ranging from domestic disturbances to mental health episodes and overdoses.