Archive: Opinions

EditorialLansing taxpayers are in trouble.  With the valuation of the Town's largest taxpayer going from $160 million to $100 million over the next four years, guess who is going to be on the hook to make up the loss?  It stinks, but in following the story for the past month or two it seems to me that while the PILOT may be putting taxpayers into the frying pan, not having it would dump us into the fire.  The proverbial fan has been proverbially hit.

A number of things have been striking to me as I've attended the various municipal meetings and talked to various stakeholders.  I think it is natural that the people who have the most to lose are crying foul the loudest, while those who don't are staying as quiet as possible.  Though I am a bit surprised that more taxpayers haven't come out to learn more about this.  It appears that the County is doing the best it can with what it has.  While you can poke holes in just about any of the parties' stance, that's the way it is when something of this magnitude faces people.

Over the more than 20 years I've lived here I had the casual impression that our county government is a tax and spend, highly liberal body hell-bent on fulfilling the 'ten square miles surrounded by reality' bumper sticker characterization of Ithaca.  Former County Legislator Mike Sigler was frequently outraged as the county board discussed issues and passed resolutions on issues far outside its purview, chastising the federal government and the like, to his mind wasting time that should have been spent on county business.  But when it came to deciding whether to endorse this PILOT I thought they really got down to business in a thoughtful, serious way.

Many legislators asked for a summary of what people said in the public hearing earlier that day, and Martha Robertson provided the most complete and comprehensive summary of all comments that I have ever heard in a municipal meeting.  I guess I expected the legislature to just pass the resolution, as it was fairly clear that would be the outcome.  But there was a lengthy and thoughtful discussion of it before the vote was taken.

The process was not a whitewash.  The fact that legislators also sit on the IDA and that County Administrator Joe Mareane sits at County Legislature meetings means that the IDA has to hear the criticisms of the board as well as the final vote result.  While Mareane stands by the agreement as fair, he said Tuesday that with experience he thinks they will do better in the future.

As much as I am going to hate my tax bill this summer I have to say that the IDA members have answered all my questions about the agreement.  I don't like all the answers, but I think I understand why we are at this point.  From where I sit all the parties are acting earnestly to come up with an agreement that will be the lesser of all evils.

Except for one point -- Lansing resident Michael Coles is a professional assessor who has been extremely critical of the model used to assess the plant.  This is a guy who has assessed properties for other PILOTs.  He knows what he's talking about.  He has offered to audit the numbers, to be the 'second pair of eyes' to make sure that the County, Town, and School District are getting a fair shake.  While he has challenged the model he says the valuation might be fair -- he just doesn't know without being able to see the numbers and go through the process.  I don't understand why the County wouldn't take him up on his offer.  They have nothing to lose by doing so and possibly very much to gain, if only added confidence in the agreement they now have.

Nobody has been perfect:  School officials have been criticized for not coming to negotiation meetings they were invited to.  To be honest I didn't credit excuses that it was short notice for missing Saturday's meeting -- for something this important I would have thought they would be there.  I've heard a lot of criticism from many sources including private citizens, and school and county board members about the model for assessing the plant.  I'm not sure that has been addressed by the County as well as it could be.  The Town Board seemed to me to gloss through their endorsement of the PILOT without any serious public discussion.

But County officials have spent a lot of time and effort coming to what they believe is the fairest agreement in extremely difficult times.  School officials have been very aggressive about trying to protect the district and the interests of its taxpayers in this case.  I think Superintendent Grimm has been realistic in his focus on making the drop to $100 million smoother rather than attacking the underlying premise that the economy seriously sucks.  And Town officials cited realistic reasons for supporting the IDA given the history of the plant in the Town, noting the plant's support of the Town in many ways over 50 years.

As the saying goes, 'Stuff happens.'  A lot of it is happening now.  The other day I heard yet another official say she was told the economy is recovering.  I haven't noticed that it is, have you?

The good news is that the negotiations are scheduled to reopen this June.  While it is too late for this year's tax bill, it may turn out that the sickeningly drastic cut from $255 million to $100 million over the next four years will be mitigated.  That would be good news for everyone -- AES Cayuga as well as the rest of us, because it would mean things are better for the plant, and that would be better for everyone.

I think School Board David Dittman expressed our pain best at Tuesday's public hearing when he noted that regular taxpayers don't get a PILOT to ease their pain, and that the severe reduction in the plant's value puts a burden on the rest of us when we can least afford to pay it.  That is true.  The proverbial fan is seriously clogged right now, and there isn't much solace in that things could be worse.

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