Community News

Residents decry Green Acres Mall tax break

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Hundreds of frustrated taxpayers filled the William L. Buck Elementary School on Wednesday night to demand that the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency reverse a tax break issued to the Green Acres Mall.

Nassau County police officers ushered people into the gymnasium and adjacent cafeteria, where the meeting was simulcast. One local business owner brandished a double-sided sign that read, “Stop stealing our money” and “Nassau County & Town of Hempstead … Corruption at its worst.”

The break will shrink the mall’s tax payments by about $6 million each year for 10 to 15 years, beginning this year, and shift the financial burden across the different classes of taxable properties in Valley Stream. On average, October’s tax bills increased between $322 and $758 in school districts 13, 24 and 30.

As District 24 Superintendent Dr. Ed Fale listed the names of officials sitting on the dais, the crowd jeered at the mention of the IDA. “Where are they?” a few people shouted all at once.

Jonathan Kohan, an IDA board member since 1998, and John Ryan, the agency’s attorney, raised their hands, which prompted roars from the crowd. As Fale continued, attendees in the cafeteria attempted to enter the room, saying there was a problem with the audio, as police officers blocked them.

Kohan fielded a question about residents’ right to due process. “We sent out certified notices to … School District 30, the Central School District, the mayor of Valley Stream …,” said Kohan, emphasizing every syllable when he mentioned Mayor Ed Fare and prompting more shouts from the crowd.

Kohan told the crowd that the IDA had held a public hearing at Village Hall on the issue and no one attended. The hearing took place on Dec. 15, 2014 — a Monday, at 10:30 a.m.

Also on the dais on Wednesday night were State Sen. Todd Kaminsky (D-Long Beach), State Assemblyman Brian Curran (R-Lynbrook), Assemblywoman Michaelle Solages (D-Elmont), County Legislators William Gaylor (R-Lynbrook) and Carrié Solages (D-Elmont), County Comptroller George Maragos, Hempstead Town Councilman Bruce Blakeman (R-Atlantic Beach), Town Counselor William Muller and Fare.

Blakeman called the tax break “unprecedented,” and said he would explore litigation to reverse the deal on the taxpayers’ behalf. When pressed on whether IDA members would be fired, he said that such a move would strengthen a potential lawsuit that the mall’s ownership, the Santa Monica, Calif.-based Macerich Company, could file.

“I believe that if the IDA board had the information about the impact on taxes, I don’t believe they would have made this decision,” Blakeman said.

Kohan, however, said that a fiscal impact statement was prepared ahead of the deal — which would have forecast the impact on local taxes — and that the IDA was “getting a second set of eyes” to review it to ensure there were no errors in those calculations.

One attendee shouted to Kohan, “How much money did you get under the table to make this deal?”

He responded, “We’re unpaid, so that’s that.”

Town representatives are scheduled to appear at District 30’s Board of Education meeting on Monday at 8 p.m. at the Shaw Avenue Elementary School. The IDA will hold a public meeting on Oct. 26 at 9 a.m. at 350 Front St. in Hempstead.