“25 years is really hard to swallow…this (PILOT) really shows how convoluted and complicated our funding system is and how problematic it is to fund school districts through property taxes…it is something that is often overlooked this issue with the tax levy and how it will impact our ability to raise funds going forward even after the PILOT is over…our levy is all that we’ve got and if this PILOT diminishes our ability to raise the levy over time that’s a problem that persists for decades…here’s the message. A deviated PILOT for 25-years doesn’t work for school districts. The way we are funded and the way that we raise revenue. It doesn’t work.” – Dr. Robin Jacobowitz, Board of Education Trustee
By Rebecca Martin
At the most recent Kingston Board of Education meeting on November 18, trustees had an unusual and perhaps unprecedented visit by Ulster County Deputy Executive John Milgrim and Ulster County Industrial Development Agency (UCIDA)’s Chief Executive Officer Rose Woodworth and their attorney Joseph Scott. The “county crew” advocated for the Kingstonian project’s proposed 25-year deviated payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) for a high-end housing project. Almost apologetic at times, they defended the PILOT terms for well over an hour while board members said repeatedly that PILOTs placed the school board and their budget in a tough position, particularly one as long as 25-years. Why the developer and/or the county didn’t have this conversation with the Board of Education earlier in the year to solicit this critical feedback rather than as some last ditch effort in the eleventh hour is perplexing, and perhaps transparent unto itself. The Board of Education’s role in PILOTs appears to be more of an after thought rather than a respected partner.
The next meeting of the Kingston Board of Education will occur on Wednesday, December 2nd at 7:00pm where the trustees are expected to vote on the Kingstonian deviated PILOT.
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The following are recent letters that were submitted to the Board of Education written by James Shaughnessy (although James submitted his comments as a Kingston resident, he also serves as the President of the Board of Education), KT Tobin, Village of New Paltz Deputy Mayor and Andrea Shaut (submitted as a Kingston resident but who also serves as President of the Kingston Common Council)
READ: I Oppose the Kingstonian PILOT Agreement “Universal public education in the United States is based on all nonexempt property owners paying a fair share of the cost of educating our students through property taxes. I documented what other large multi-family rental properties and hotels pay in school taxes to Kingston City School District. The Kingstonian project proposes a property tax abatement of approximately 90% for 25 years, which in essence is the reduction the property taxes paid by residents and guests.” – James Shaughnessy, City of Kingston resident and President of the Kingston Board of Education
READ: My comments strongly encouraging the Kingston City School District board to vote No against the Kingstonian PILOT “You are now evaluating a revised PILOT that has been characterized as a “win-win.” In my view, the revisions are miniscule, insulting, and far from enough to change my mind. Saying the increase in tax payments doubles a tiny initial dollar amount is disingenuous spin and the complete absence of any analysis of tax cap implications further demonstrates that the school district and the families that comprise it continue to have little consideration in this process.” – KT Tobin, Deputy Mayor Village of New Paltz
READ: I ask the members of the Board of Education to have the backs of our young people. “These memories have been flooding back to me as I watch on the sidelines the discussion of the Kingstonian’s request for a PILOT. Perhaps their tax break won’t immediately lead to the elimination of the music programs, but what if? And is it worth the students losing even the smallest amount of their education? We owe our youth the greatest of opportunities. I am not willing to watch even the possibility of them losing a portion of their educational experiences without pushing back, because every day I am grateful for my experience and the teachers that I had in Kingston. In my role as president, I do not carry a vote on the Common Council. So I am here instead as a former student, the daughter of one of our great teachers, and an educator myself to ask the members of the Board of Education to have the backs of our young people. They deserve the best we have to offer. Let’s not chip away at it.” – Andrea Shaut, lifelong City resident and Kingston Common Council president