Kingstonian cost report completed

But the analysis won’t be released until Friday

KINGSTON, N.Y. » An anticipated analysis of the cost and benefits of The Kingstonian, a controversial multimillion- dollar mixeduse development proposed for Uptown Kingston, has been completed, but the findings of that study won’t be released by Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan until Friday.

As a result, the Ulster County Legislature won’t vote Tuesday as planned for a payment-in-lieu of taxes plan, commonly known as a PILOT, Legislature Chairman David Donaldson said.

“While we wait for the finalized report ... the Ulster County Legislature will delay all votes related to the Kingstonian,” Donaldson, D-Kingston, said in a statement released by Ryan’s office Monday. “This will allow the needed time for all parties involved to better understand the contents of the independent report,” he added.

Still, he said in a statement, the public will have the opportunity to comment on the request at the Legislature’s meeting Tuesday.

The Ryan administration had initially said the analysis would be released by the end of the day on Oct. 16. On Monday, administration officials said the report was still in “draft” form and wouldn’t be released until Oct. 23. Assistant Deputy Executive Dan Torres said the delay would provide “additional time for impacted tax jurisdictions to provide comment on the draft report.”

Developers of the project have asked the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency for a $28.2 million reduction in property taxes over 25 years, a $1.4 million waiver from local sales and use taxes, and a $325,000 exemption from mortgage recording taxes.

The Industrial Development Agency has said that its policy requires it to get input from all taxing jurisdictions that would be affected prior to voting on the request.

In this instance, the city of Kingston, Ulster County and the Kingston City School District would be affected by the payment-inlieu-of-taxes agreement.

The Kingston City Council has already voted to endorse the payment-in-lieuof- taxes agreement, although council members made its support contingent on a series of conditions.

Kingston School Board President James Shaughnessy Jr. said in the statement released by Ryan that the district is reviewing the report and would delay a vote “until we have heard from all parties.” Previously, Shaughnessy had said the school board was waiting for the agency to directly send the application to the district before voting on the request.

Proposed by Kingstonian Development LLC and Herzog Supply Co., the Kingstonian is to comprise 143 apartments, 8,000 square feet of retail space, a 32room boutique hotel, a pedestrian plaza, a footbridge crossing Schwenk Drive between the new development and Kingston Plaza, and a 420-space parking garage. It would straddle Fair Street Extension in Uptown Kingston between North Front Street and Schwenk Drive.

The request by developers for a tax break has generated a significant amount of both support and opposition within the community. Supporters of the project say it will bring much needed economic development to the area. Opponents have called the proposed tax deal “a tax-free deal for luxury apartments” and say the ramifications of the project not paying its fair share of taxes will be felt across the county.

Hundreds of letters in support and opposition to the tax plan have poured into the Legislature’s office and in September, more than 60 people signed up to speak on the project during a meeting of the Ulster County Legislature, but because the measure wasn’t on the Legislature’s agenda, they weren’t allowed to speak.

Following a public hearing on the proposal that included calls for an independent analysis of the project, Ryan announced on Oct. 6 that his administration would hire National Development Council, a not-forprofit organization based in New York City, to study the benefits and impacts the project would have to the county.

“As I have said, a decision of this magnitude requires an impartial assessment of the costs and benefits of the project. The completed report will allow the public to see the full picture of the community impacts of the Kingstonian in a fair and transparent way,” Ryan said in the statement Monday.

He said the report released on Friday will include the analysis by National Development Council as well as comments from the “impacted taxing jurisdictions.”

Donaldson said that while the Legislature will not take up the matter at its meeting Tuesday, because it is on the agenda, the public will be permitted to comment during the Legislature’s public comment section of the meeting, which will be held virtually and streamed live on the Legislature’s website.