Village, AvalonBay reach an agreement

Having granted AvalonBay building permits to begin the construction of a 349-unit apartment complex, the Village of Rockville Centre announced on Feb. 9 that it had reached an agreement with the developer to make the project more financially attractive for both parties.

Under the terms of the agreement, Rockville Centre withdrew its protest of AvalonBay's application to the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency. An approved IDA application would allow AvalonBay to make payments in lieu of taxes, or PILOTs, that would be smaller than the property taxes the developer would owe the village, school district and town. In return for the village's withdrawing its protest, AvalonBay agreed to pay it the difference between the PILOT and what the village property taxes on the complex would otherwise be — a sizable sum of money for Rockville Centre.

"From our point of view, we're happy to agree with them and withdraw the opposition that we filed with the Town of Hempstead," said Village Administrator Frank Quigley. "[The IDA application] still provides advantages to AvalonBay, and there are still other taxing entities out there.

"The AvalonBay people will make the village whole in respect to the payment of taxes," Quigley added. "It's a lot [of money]."

The village was originally opposed to AvalonBay's IDA application because it would have meant reduced income to the village for having the apartment complex within its borders — tax money the village needed. "It just seemed to me that this was not the time to roll over," Quigley said. "You have to be vigilant and diligent and stand up. So we did express our opposition to AvalonBay not paying the real property taxes to the village ... And there's been a positive result. The tax problem has been solved."

Making a deal with the village, even though it will cost AvalonBay more money, was in the company's best interests, because if the IDA accepts its application, it will still benefit from town and school district tax breaks. Because of the village's opposition, the application had been tabled for months.