IDA hearing on hotel tax break draws complaints

Ulster County Industrial Development Agency officials on Wednesday said they’ll accept written comments on a proposal to grant nearly $2 million in tax breaks to developers of the proposed Holiday Inn Express at 2777 state Route 32 in Saugerties, but they won’t be part of the official record of a public hearing on the proposal.

The clarification was given following an agency meeting, where officials defended the procedure used to conduct a May 1 public hearing.

“We did what we typically do,” agency attorney Joseph Scott said. “We did what was required under the law. We sent letters to the appropriate parties, we published (notice) in the newspaper.”

Scott, who chaired the meeting in the absence of any agency board members, acknowledged that town officials during the hearing complained that a 10-day notice was not enough to attract wide public attention.

Board Chairman Michael Horodyski said it would have been up to town and school officials to promote the event beyond legal notices. However, after the meeting, he said the written comments will be reviewed by the board even though the formal period for submissions has been closed.

“That doesn’t mean if we got a letter from them it wouldn’t be taken under advisement,” Horodyski said. “It’s just not going to be part of the public record.”

Developers last month asked for a payment-inlieu-of-taxes agreement for a proposed four-story, 86room hotel that is expected to create at least 10 jobs.

Members of the Saugerties Board of Education on Tuesday said they were troubled by a lack of advance information about the proposed payment-inlieu-of-taxes plan for the project.

“I would ... like to see us talk further about the PILOT,” Trustee Krista Barringer said. “To know that there’s close to a million dollars over the course of this 15-year PILOT that we in the district would not be receiving is something we need to further discuss.”

Trustee Elena Maskell was also concerned that there was not more discussion by the board.

“I’m interested in getting some more information on that,” she said. “I don’t know where it’s going to go, but I’m not really comfortable with just saying ... we just got all this information and there’s a $900,000 deficit.”

Horodyski said the agency sent certified letters to the town and district with an expectation that information would be distributed to Board of Education members far enough in advance for it to have prepared comments at the public hearing.

According to the application from Saugerties NY Development the proposed 15-year payment-in-lieu-oftaxes agreement would give the developer exemptions on new property taxes for the first five years, exemptions on 75 percent of the new taxes in years 6 to 8; 50 percent in years 9 and 10; 40 percent in year 11, 30 percent in year 12; 20 percent in year 13; 10 percent in year 14; and 5 percent in year 15.

Savings estimated for the developer amount to $1.51 million in property taxes; $350,000 from savings on sales and use taxes; and $41,340 from a mortgage recording tax exemption.