The Sweden Town Board may consider discussing tax breaks for the 60 Clinton Street property in the Village of Brockport at their February 25 regular meeting.
Supervisor Rob Carges told about 50 residents who attended the board meeting February 11, that council members could discuss the issue again, but cannot vote on the abatement until there is a written resolution.
He opened the floor at the start of the February 11 meeting to allow for comments from residents regarding the abatement, which has already been approved by the Village of Brockport and the Brockport Central School District.
Noted New York City developer Greg O’Connell – who purchased 20 buildings in downtown Mt. Morris and is credited with turning the business district there around – is interested in rehabilitating the historic building at 60 Clinton Street, which dates to 1850 and originally used as a farm implement factory.
The revitalization of the property – which might be used for family apartments and a restaurant – would be the first step in the implementation of the Clinton Street Master Plan, which is part of the Sweden/Brockport Comprehensive Plan. The building sits along the southern canal front west of Main Street.
Residents who spoke during the February 11 meeting all told the board they are in favor of the tax break and would like to see the board bring the issue to a vote.
“Do the community the courtesy of voting on the tax abatement,” Village Trustee Carol Hannan said.
Sweden resident Gary Skoog – a former president of the Greater Brockport Development Corporation (GBDC) which currently owns the property and has invested tens of thousands of dollars in remediation and maintenance work – said the tax abatement is a win-win situation.
“It’s great to have a guy like Greg O’Connell on our side. We have to have a vision for the future,” he said.
Former village mayor and current GBDC president Josephine Matela said O’Connell is a man of his word, “…. he will do a great job for this community,” she said, and asked the town board to seriously consider the tax break.
Current Brockport Mayor Margay Blackman said the town and village should work together and that 60 Clinton Street, “is one way we can do this.” She said that no matter what the town decides “the village is going to find a way to make this happen.”
Many speakers also mentioned various tax breaks the town has granted to businesses including Abbott’s and Classy Chassy Car Wash.
But the town does have concerns about the fairness of the abatement and the repercussions of enacting New York State Real Property Tax Law, Section 421-m – the exemption O’Connell is seeking.
Town Councilperson Danielle Windus-Cook read a letter given to her by Benton Hart, who lives in the village. He called the abatement, “… a sweetheart deal for one investor,” and wrote that there are legal ramifications to granting the abatement. He pointed to the work Village Trustee Carol Hannan has accomplished with personal investment and volunteer labor in rehabilitating and restoring homes in the village, and questioned if the rehabilitation of 60 Clinton Street could be completed without tax breaks.
Councilperson Windus-Cook said she could not support the abatement, saying, “… it is not in the best interest of the community.” She mentioned a number of rehabilitation/restoration projects completed by downtown business and property owners which were done with their own money and grants, saying she is, “…. afraid we are forgetting them.”
She noted the town has a responsibility to its residents to keep the budget in the black and to stay within the state’s two percent tax cap. She said the town has never been given detailed plans regarding what would be done with 60 Clinton Street.
“The town was given nothing,” she said, and added that board members asked the town attorney to research the abatement and that he has determined, “… it is not in the best interest of the town to pass the exemption.”
During the second half of 2013, Brockport Deputy Mayor Bill Andrews, who is also a member of the GBDC Board of Directors, met several times with the town board regarding the 421-m tax break. In Oct. 2013, he told the Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald he had drafted for the town board what a local law regarding the exemption could look like – giving the town control over access to the exemption and which would require town board approval of each application.
At that same time, the Suburban News and Hamlin-Clarkson Herald talked with Sweden Town Assessor Tony Eaffaldano who explained that under 421-m, 60 Clinton Street would go on the tax rolls at its current assessed value. Any improvements as part of the rehabilitation/restoration would be 100 percent tax exempt for 12 years.
According to the Real Property Tax Law, Section 421-m, the exemption would also apply during construction or substantial rehabilitation work – for up to three years. Eaffaldano said that means that the first 15 years from the sale of the building could be 100 percent tax exempt. Under the abatement schedule, after work is completed, the exemption continues for another 20 years, at a percentage of 100 percent the first 12 years, then declining to 80 percent, 60 percent, 40 percent and finally 20 percent over the next eight years.
Sweden town taxpayers need to be asked, “… do they want to pay this group’s taxes for 20 years?” Eaffaldano said.
Bill Andrews told Westside News Inc. newspapers last fall that once a local law regarding the exemption is enacted, 60 Clinton Street would go on the tax rolls and eventually produce ten times or more the present tax liability.
“There is no way to lose tax money because of this,” Deputy Mayor Andrews said.
