If
all goes smoothly, the owners of Greece Ridge Mall will get tax
abatements for renovating the mall’s former Bon-Ton space.
Today,
the county Industrial Development Agency’s board gave provisional
approval to a payment in lieu of taxes agreement for the project.
Under the 25-year deal, the Wilmorite subsidiary that owns the mall
will pay .6 percent more in taxes each year to the Town of Greece and
Monroe County. Its payments to the Greece Central School District
will increase 2 percent each year. The PILOT would also be up for
review after 15 years.
That’s a change from the original
proposal, which called for .6 percent yearly increases across the
board. Greece school district officials were unhappy with that deal
because of the loss of projected tax revenue; the district estimated
that it would lose at least $6 million. Because of those concerns,
the COMIDA board postponed the vote at that time.
This morning,
however, Wilmorite officials submitted a new proposal to the school
district and COMIDA. Joe Shields, an attorney for the district, said
officials “have some comfort” with the proposal, though some
details need to be addressed. The school board will discuss the
proposal during its meeting tonight, he said.
If the school board
is OK with the proposal, and no significant changes have to be made,
then the PILOT will be put in place, said COMIDA attorney Mike
Townsend.
This article appears in Jul 11-18, 2012.
