Agency is sued over denial of sales tax relief

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » The owner of 2-4 Kieffer Lane LLC has filed a lawsuit against the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency over the agency’s denial of a sales tax exemption for the purchase of eight large cranes.

The suit, filed in state Supreme Court, challenges the agency’s Aug. 9 ruling that 2-4 Kieffer Lane could not have a waiver of $978,000 in sales taxes for the purchase of $12.9 million worth of cranes.

Thomas Auringer, the owner of 2-4 Kieffer Lane, alleges in the court filing that the agency’s denial was the result of labor unions pressuring agency board members.

Union representatives pressed agency officials for several months to look into the bankruptcy and labor relations history of companies associated with Auringer. That history included a 2003 felony verdict against Cavalier Construction, of which Auringer was president.

Auringer’s suit also asks the court to consider the amount of influence that came from outside of town of Ulster, where 2-4 Kieffer Lane wants to house the cranes. That request, though, incorrectly stating that Costanzi Crane, business on Sawkill Road in the town of Ulster, is in the town of Kingston.

The suit says the Industrial Development Agency declined to consider height and function differences between Costanzi Crane equipment and equipment that would be provided by 2-4 Kieffer Lane.

“[An] expert study as to the uniqueness of the project was conducted by Cammoin Associates, wherein the expert stated, ‘New crane service is crane equipment that, as defined by its type and capacity, is not comparable to currently available service and is therefore not currently available in Ulster County,’” 2-4 Kieffer Lane says.

Auringer this week declined to discuss the lawsuit, citing the advice of his attorney, Timothy McColgan, who also said he would not speak with a reporter.

John Morrow, chairman of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency board, said there is no merit to 2-4 Kieffer Lane’s arguments.

“We didn’t do anything wrong in this case, and they’re trying to make us look like the bad guy,” he said.

“They filed an application and then found out they didn’t meet the guidelines of the IDA ... so they changed the application to make it semi-meet the qualifications of the IDA or seemingly,” Morrow said. “They changed it from ‘mobile’ cranes to ‘tower’ cranes, and the IDA looked at tower cranes and said, ‘[We] don’t think we’ve used a tower crane in Ulster County on any project. How is that going to benefit Ulster County residents?’”

Morrow also disputed the contention that the agency was responding to pressure from union representatives and said there was nothing improper about letting union members speak during the public-comment portion of an agency board meeting this past May.

“There were no secret meetings with the union,” he said.