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State due to review appeals for EZ

Watertown Daily News|Steve Virkler|November 29, 2009
New YorkTaxes & Subsidies

A state board in mid-December will begin reviewing documentation from 369 businesses - including Maple Ridge Wind Farm and 10 others in the north country - that are appealing their proposed decertification from the state Empire Zone program. ...Based on a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes plan, the 195-turbine wind farm in December made $8.6 million in payments to local taxing jurisdictions, with about $7 million of that to be reimbursed through the Empire Zone program.


EMPIREZONE: Businesses seeking decertification reversal

A state board in mid-December will begin reviewing documentation from 369 businesses - including Maple Ridge Wind Farm and 10 others in the north country - that are appealing their proposed decertification from the state Empire Zone program.

However, there is no set timetable for when decisions on individual companies will be reached, Empire State Development Corp. spokeswoman Katie Krawczyk said via e-mail.

"We're just sitting here with our fingers crossed like, I'm sure, other municipalities are," said Lewis County Legislature Chairman Jack T. Bush, R-Brantingham.

The Empire Zone Designation Board is expected to meet first on Dec. 15, with further hearings to be "scheduled as …

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EMPIREZONE: Businesses seeking decertification reversal

A state board in mid-December will begin reviewing documentation from 369 businesses - including Maple Ridge Wind Farm and 10 others in the north country - that are appealing their proposed decertification from the state Empire Zone program.

However, there is no set timetable for when decisions on individual companies will be reached, Empire State Development Corp. spokeswoman Katie Krawczyk said via e-mail.

"We're just sitting here with our fingers crossed like, I'm sure, other municipalities are," said Lewis County Legislature Chairman Jack T. Bush, R-Brantingham.

The Empire Zone Designation Board is expected to meet first on Dec. 15, with further hearings to be "scheduled as they go along," Ms. Krawczyk said. Decisions likely will be made and released in groups of companies that either were successful or unsuccessful in their appeals, she said.

Empire State Development in May chose to decertify 546 businesses, including Flat Rock Wind Power LLC, the name under which Maple Ridge Wind Farm was incorporated. Those companies were expected to receive more than $90 million in tax reimbursements through the Empire Zone program this year.

Based on a 15-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes plan, the 195-turbine wind farm in December made $8.6 million in payments to local taxing jurisdictions, with about $7 million of that to be reimbursed through the Empire Zone program. Without Empire Zone benefits, taxing jurisdictions - also including the towns of Martinsburg, Harrisburg, Lowville and Watson, as well as the Lowville, South Lewis and Copenhagen central school districts - would receive a fallback amount of about $2.3 million this year, according to county projections.

Affected municipalities have budgeted for the minimum payments to avoid a potential revenue shortfall next year. If the wind farm retains benefits, the unbudgeted revenue would bolster their respective fund balances.

The Empire Zone uncertainty also poses a logistics problem for the county treasurer's office, which must bill the wind farm for its annual PILOT payment within the next few weeks. County Treasurer Vicki A. Roy said she expects to bill Flat Rock for the full, Empire Zone-enhanced amount "and hope for the best."

Flat Rock isn't the north country's largest potential loser of Empire Zone benefits.

Erie Boulevard Hydropower, the former name of Brookfield Power Corp., was slated to receive more than $9 million in Empire Zone benefits on its hydroelectric plants near Potsdam. However, that business was decertified and is not included on the state's list of companies filing appeals.

In 2001, the utility agreed to make annual $1 million payments to the town and village of Potsdam in exchange for inclusion in the zone. Given the decertification, local officials aren't expecting further payments, which have been earmarked for economic development.

Five companies from the Potsdam zone are appealing their decertification:

■ Potsdam Associates - Operators of the P&C shopping plaza.

■ Trezza Realty LLC and Hazen Enterprises Inc. - Larry Hazen, through the two businesses, owns several downtown buildings and operates restaurants and shops in the them.

■ Goody Goody's 2 Inc. - Formerly owned and operated a toy store at 16-18 Market St. and now is leasing the location to the Hookah House.

■ M&W Foods Inc.: The local Dunkin' Donuts franchise.

"We are not playing a role in the day-to-day processing of appeals. We have had contact with many of these companies to provide information from their files," said Frederick J. Hanss, the village of Potsdam's planning and development director.

Four companies from the city and town of Watertown zone also are appealing:

■ HCA Genesis Inc. - Operates Mercy of Northern New York on Stone Street.

■ Northern Health Care Linen Services Co. Inc. - The former name of Atlas Health Care Linen Services, which in July shut down production as an industrial laundry at its Union Street site but announced it would remain a customer-service location with seven workers for an unspecified time.

■ Jerry R. Gardner, doing business as Total Property Management - Owns and manages numerous apartment buildings in Watertown.

■ ACN Companies LLC.

Lewis Lanes LLC, which lost its 12-lane Lowville bowling alley to a January fire but rebuilt and reopened this fall, also is appealing its decertification from the Lewis County zone.


Source:http://www.watertowndailytime…

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