Town to sue IDA over Green Acres Mall agreement

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The Town of Hempstead today announced plans to sue the town’s Industrial Development Agency to nullify a 10-to-15-year agreement with the Green Acres Mall that reduced its tax payments by $6 million in the first year.

“Respecting taxpayers has been the hallmark of my administration since being sworn in as Hempstead Town supervisor in January,” said Supervisor Anthony J. Santino in a statement. “I take my responsibility of fighting for taxpayers, open government and transparency very seriously. These principles are at the core of the lawsuit that we will file against the IDA.”

Hempstead Town officials called the agreement “arbitrary and capricious,” and said that the IDA failed to provide public notice to various governments that would be impacted by the agreement. According to a news release, the town’s lawsuit seeks to rescind the agreement, restore the mall to the tax rolls and cause new public hearings to be held on the issue.

“Certainly, we welcome a lawsuit,” said Fred Parola, the IDA’s executive director. “We’re transparent here, so I guess it’s another forum that will ultimately justify what the board did.”

A letter posted on the IDA website, dated Dec. 4, 2015, was sent to Valley Stream Mayor Ed Fare, then-Town Supervisor Kate Murray, District 30 Superintendent Nicholas Stirling, Central High School District Superintendent Bill Heidenreich and Nassau County Executive Edward Mangano, notifying them of the public hearing. The letter contained no details of the tax break’s impact on local taxes.

Dr. Christopher Dillon, assistant superintendent for business in District 30, said that he had reviewed the letter this week and that there was nothing alarming about it.

“There’s no reason to think this would’ve happened,” he said. PILOTs are “usually minimal, so really it doesn’t affect you.”

As of press time, Dillon said the IDA still hadn’t provided the district with a payment schedule for the PILOT, which details what percentage of the payment is paid to each party. Typically, he said, the schools begin planning around this time each year for the following year’s budget.

Dillon also noted that under a PILOT agreement, if the payee fails to make payments, it’s the schools’ responsibility to collect what is owed to them — an undertaking previously enforced at the expense of Nassau County, known as the “county guarantee.” He said the county typically mails checks to the schools to make them whole if taxes are unpaid.

News of the lawsuit came just days after hundreds of frustrated taxpayers filled the William L. Buck Elementary School on Oct.19 — some clutching their tax bills — to demand an explanation for a tax break issued to the Green Acres Mall that has caused abrupt increases in property taxes across the community.