Majority of Town of Hempstead IDA Resigns

All but one member of the Town of Hempstead Industrial Development Agency stepped down from their seats on Monday, pre-empting Town Supervisor Anthony Santino's movement to remove them.

The IDA is an independent, non-elected board that creates tax breaks and incentives for businesses to encourage them to set up shop in the Town of Hempstead. The board came under fire recently after Valley Stream residents saw their taxes go up by hundreds of dollars to offset tax breaks the IDA gave to Green Acres Mall.

"The board chose to resign because of the efforts of certain public officials to delegitimize and misrepresent the facts regarding the Green Acres project,"Newsday reported the board said in a statement.

According to Newsday, the tax breaks the IDA granted included a $6 million sales tax exemption and a $14 million PILOT (paid over 10 years).

Newsday reported that only one board member Florestano Girardi, remains, because they joined after the Green Acres decision was made. Chairman Theodore P. Sasso Jr., vice chairman Ari Brown, treasurer Jonathan Kohan, secretary Dan Grodotzke and board members Raymond Maguire and Ann DeMichael all resigned on Monday.

Supervisor Anthony Santino said he was "outraged" with the board late last month, and planned to remove the board at the next Town of Hempstead meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 15.

"I am outraged by the IDA’s hearing process and handling of the Green Acres Mall PILOT agreement," Santino said last month. "The pleas of taxpayers continue to fall on deaf ears at the IDA, and I will not stand for it. Hempstead Town is already filing a lawsuit to nullify the IDA’s deal. Now it’s time for the IDA to take a fresh new look at this ill-advised action. Clearly, the only way to do that is with new board members that will have the confidence of taxpayers.”

However, the IDA board says that the tax increase residents are facing is only partly due to the agreement with Green Acres Mall. A study the IDA commissioned says that, while the agreement is responsible for part of the tax increase, school budget increases and other factors also play a significant role.

The report also pointed out that the mall was grieving its tax assessment, and is likely to have its valuation lowered significantly, which will raise taxes for homeowners as well.

"...All taxpayers across SD13, SD24 and SD30 will be paying more in property tax in future years because the Project will be paying less than it did in previous years," the report reads. "However, it is critical to note that this is due not to the IDA's inducement but to the change in assessment of the mall. in other words, this change would have occurred whether or not the IDA had acted."

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