Town of Hempstead appoints new IDA board

Six of seven board members of the Town of Hempstead’s Industrial Development Agency resigned on Monday after Supervisor Anthony Santino threatened to remove them from their posts.

The resignations followed weeks of impassioned debate about what caused large property-tax increases for homeowners in school districts 13, 24 and 30.

A drastic tax break for the Green Acres Mall was approved in 2015 by the IDA, which reduced the mall’s tax payments by $6 million this year and by a similar amount each year until 2022 as part of a payment in lieu of taxes agreement. That led to increased property-tax bills for residents in school districts 13, 24 and 30, with hikes ranging from $322 and $758 in October.

The Hempstead Town Board took aim at the IDA last month for its handling of the deal, and Santino vowed to remove the board at its Nov. 15 meeting and file a lawsuit to void the contract.

IDA board members instead resigned, they said, “because of the efforts of certain public officials to delegitimize and misrepresent the facts” about the Green Acres Mall deal, according to a news release.

On Tuesday, the Town Board named six new IDA appointees. The board voted to appoint Arthur Nastre, John Ferretti Jr., Eric Malette, Steven Raiser and Florestano Girardi, in addition to Lynbrook Mayor Bill Hendrick. Girardi is the only previous IDA member to weather the transition, likely because he was not a member at the time of the Green Acres Mall deal.

IDAs are governmental agencies that work with business owners or developers to provide financial incentives to enhance local economies. IDAs typically obtain properties in need of development and then lease them back to their owners via payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs. IDA board members are unpaid and do not receive health or retirement benefits. Generally, IDAs are prohibited from providing financial assistance to retail projects. The fact that a majority of Green Acres shoppers are from outside the county, however, qualified it as a tourist destination.

Several residents took the opportunity to speak their minds at the close of the Town Board meeting. “Fix this now,” said Rose Eisner, 89, of Valley Stream. “…When we go to the polls to vote, we have to remember that it is no longer political party that matters. It is performance that matters ... You have to show us what you can do for us.”