In the March l0 issue of the Westchester Guardian
New Rochelle City Council, not the Industrial Development Agency (IDA), should grant tax abatements according to Councilman Richard St. Paul .At the February City Council meeting he stated Assemblyman George Latimer was drafting the legislation which would give City Council this power. Mayor Noam Bramson did not agree, saying that the IDA works “in concert” with the City Council and this change would put “our taxpayers at a severe disadvantage” and result in a loss of investments in the city.
IDA tax abatements (or PILOTS, or payments in lieu of taxes) have been the subject of recent Council meetings and the political battle lines are forming. When Assemblyman George Latimer spoke at the February 24th meeting of the New Rochelle Citizens Reform Club he said he had formulated the requested IDA changes into a bill. This bill requires the “New Rochelle IDA to obtain approval from the governing body of the city before granting tax exemptions.” He had stated previously, “I support making IDA’s more accountable for the benefits of the grant and more accountable to the taxpayers who underwrite these grants.” At the meeting when he referred to the Westchester County IDA , he was reminded that any municipality that uses the County IDA has the final say on the granting of tax abatements. Latimer then clarified that in his district only New Rochelle and Port Chester have independent IDAs.
Latimer also indicated that should Senator Klein co-sponsor the bill, a home rule resolution from the New Rochelle City Council would be needed. This is where the political differences started to emerge. Robert Cox, Talk of the Sound Editor, informed Latimer that Jared Rice during his recent campaign had stated he would vote to give City Council the power to approve IDA tax abatements. However, when Councilman Rice was contacted this week by the Westchester Guardian he claimed he would “want to maintain the IDA as it is.” He said this change in his view came after “speaking with experts” and cited “vast improvements in the IDA in the last year, referring to changes that were made as a result of Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s report. RIce added, “I feel to abolish the IDA would do more harm than good.”
When the New ‘Rochelle IDA was established in l977 their regulations stated it is “primarily interested in projects that lead to the development of the City, and provides financial assistance in the form of low-interest bonds, tax abatements for real property tax, and tax-exempt statues for sales tax and mortgage recording tax. NRIDA may recapture a portion of the real property tax in the form of payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT)…NRIDA is manager by a seven member Board of Directors (:Board) comprised of the City Manager, one City Councilperson, and five private citizens.” However a recent audit by the State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli stated “the City of New Rochelle had nearly $57 million in projects, and their rank is the third highest in New York Slate at $26,077 per job created for an estimated 310 jobs. This cost per job is about six times higher than the state average of $4,527 and many more times the state median cost per job of $1,288.” Further the report says these job figures are “based up estimates made by the IDAs and often are not verified.”
Vincent Malfetano said Rice had told the audience when he asked the question at the NAACP debate during his recent District 3 election campaign he would support allowing the New Rochelle City Council to have the final decision on all IDA abatements. Malfetano felt that Mayor Bramson did not know this but Councilman St. Paul who was “at the debate heard this answer” and would have assumed on the day of the Council meeting that Rice would vote in favor of this change. “Given the scandal of the audit by the State of this IDA, Malfetano felt giving this power to Council was appropriate. The present people on the IDA ;(except Council member Marianne Sussman) are not elected by anyone. During the City Council discussion of the NRIDA proposal, Malfetano added, “Councilman Rice remained silent and said nothing. I think the man should resign his position which he has dishonored. There are two possible explanations: (1) He’s been scared off by the powers that be; or (2) He is not smart enough to know what it means to lie to the electorate. I am asking all New Rochelle residents who have an interest in honest politics and good government to show up at the City Council meeting on March 8 at 730 p.m. at City Hall to make their feelings known.”
As this discussion continues, Councilman Lou Trangucci feels right now this change allowing City Council to decide on IDA tax abatements will not pass. But he still thinks greater transparency of IDA actions is necessary. “Let IDA do their job,” but then let them come to City Council and have a question and answer session after an abatement is granted to allow City Council members to say whether or not they support the IDA decision.