ROTTERDAM Town, GE set to end dispute Deal reached in assessment fight BY JUSTIN MASON Gazette Reporter
General Electric and the town of Rotterdam are poised to ratify a deal that will resolve five years of litigation over the company’s property assessment and establish a fixed schedule of tax payments for the next decade. Officials from the town, county and Schalmont Central School District declined to discuss the impending agreement in advance of their respective meetings scheduled for today. Rotterdam town Supervisor Harry Buffardi said the agreement is aimed at improving relations between the global corporation and the various taxing entities in the town that have been feuding over the company’s property value since the 1990s. “Certainly, it’s intended to improve relations with our largest employer and our largest taxpayer,” he said Tuesday. The agreement will likely reduce General Electric’s property assessment, currently $138.5 million, and mean the various entities will need to refund some of the money that was collected in taxes over the years. It was unclear how much each taxing entity will need to repay or how their budgets will be impacted by the payments. Buffardi said the 10-year payment-in-lieuof-taxes agreement arranged through the Schenectady County Industrial Development Agency will mean these entities won’t have to budget for costly litigation through 2023. He estimated the protracted legal fi ght with General Electric cost upward of $400,000 over the course of fi ve years. “This has been a prolonged Hatfi eld-and-McCoy-type fi ght,” he said “This has been a feud between us.” Schalmont Superintendent Valerie Kelsey wouldn’t discuss the details of the settlement with General Electric or how much the district might need to refund the company for taxes paid, but she said the agreement will ultimately benefi t the district. “It’s a good thing for Schalmont in the long run,” she said. “We’ve strived to find a settlement to this situation.” County Attorney Chris Gardner did not return calls seeking comment for this story. Chris Horne, a spokeswoman for General Electric, declined to discuss the deal until the meetings today. “GE is following the rules and protocols for this type of process and we are not in a position to provide details in advance of the town, school and county’s public meetings,” she said Tuesday via email. “We anticipate very positive meetings tomorrow that will exemplify the strong commitment shown by all parties to work together and arrive at a mutually satisfactory agreement.” At least one Town Board member wasn’t pleased with the lack of details being made public. Robert Godlewski said he wasn’t apprised of the details Tuesday and learned of today’s special Town Board meeting only when a Rotterdam police officer hand-delivered a notice to his home Monday. “As far as I’m concerned, we shouldn’t be acting on this,” he said. Rotterdam and General Electric have legally sparred over the assessed value of the company’s 322 acres along Interstate 890 since 1983. The swath of land includes the company’s 1-million-square-footplus steam turbine plant known as Building 273, which was toured by President Barack Obama in 2011. The legal battle between Rotterdam and General Electric seemed to peak when the town assessor valued the property at $275 million in 2000. Two years later, a state Supreme Court judge reduced the assessment to $122 million, leaving the town, school district and county on the hook to pay back roughly $15.7 million in tax overpayments made over a 10-year period. Schalmont took out a 20-year loan to repay $6.15 million of the tax refund not covered by reserve funds, and $1.55 million was waived by GE as a “gift” to the district. Rotterdam was forced to borrow $1.1 million to pay off the remainder of the $2.4 million the town owed in overpayments, while the county bonded $5.2 million to repay its portion. Then-town Supervisor John Paolino pledged to improve relations with General Electric when he took office in 2002, and the company even credited him with improving relations when he ran for re-election in 2003. But the company continued to fi ght its assessment even while Paolino, now a special consultant to the town, remained in offi ce. In 2007, a state Supreme Court judge set the 2003 property value at $126.4 million and the 2004 value at $129 million. Justices with the Appellate Division of state Supreme Court affirmed those values the following year. But the battles over assessment continued when the town upped the value of the property to $138.5 million in 2008. General Electric contested this assessment and all subsequent ones, claiming its property and buildings were worth only $14.5 million. ............................>>>>.................................>>>>..........................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00101&AppName=1
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June 20, 2012, 5:21am
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hmmmmmmm.............so how do you 'spose the lost revenue is gonna be made up............hmmmmm
IT'S ANOTHER GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY BEING SHOVED DOWN OUR THROATS BY THE KGB OPERATIVES EMBEDDED IN THE US GOVERNMENT THAT OPPRESS NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD WITH THEIR MILITARY MIGHT EXERCISING MURDER FOR HIRE AND TARGETING FLAG SALUTING DISSIDENTS!!!!!
JUST BECAUSE SISSY SAYS SO DOESN'T MAKE IT SO...BUT HE THINKS IT DOES!!!!! JUST BECAUSE MC1 SAYS SO DOESN'T MAKE IT SO!!!!!
IT'S ANOTHER GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY BEING SHOVED DOWN OUR THROATS BY THE KGB OPERATIVES EMBEDDED IN THE US GOVERNMENT THAT OPPRESS NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD WITH THEIR MILITARY MIGHT EXERCISING MURDER FOR HIRE AND TARGETING FLAG SALUTING DISSIDENTS!!!!!
Good one Joe!
I think GE made the J79 engine for the F4 Phantoms, I'm sure you know exactly how those engines sound when being called in for an airstrike on some gook village. Estimated 2 million Vietnamese dead and 58K Americans, and GE making BILLIONS to make it all possible. We should have a parade for GE.
Good one Joe! I'm sure you know exactly how those engines sound when being called in for an airstrike on some "gook village".
From Dictionary.com
gook: noun 1. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive, a native of Southeast Asia or the South Pacific, especially when a member of an enemy military force. 2.any dark-skinned foreigner, especially one from the Middle East. 3.anyone who is offensive to others because of stupidity, coarseness, etc.
( Cicero fits the dictionaries #3 meaning of the word exactly!)
Note the smiley faces in Cicero's post... He must have considered his post to be humorous.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Good for GE! Like all of the other businesses.....they should continue to pay little to no taxes and let the residents shoulder the tax burden!
This is proof again of the METROPLEX/GILLEN lie!!! Remember the promise.......bringing in new businesses to lower taxes!! How's that working out for the residence?
And hey....if someone choses not to use their local police force and chooses the state police instead....do they get a tax break? If someone doesn't have kids in their school district....do they get a tax break? If someone uses a well for their water supply....do they get a tax break? If someone needs an ambulance and chooses a private ambulance service....do they get a tax break?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
"At least one Town Board member wasn’t pleased with the lack of details being made public. Robert Godlewski said he wasn’t apprised of the details Tuesday and learned of today’s special Town Board meeting only when a Rotterdam police officer hand-delivered a notice to his home Monday. "
gook: noun 1. Slang: Disparaging and Offensive, a native of Southeast Asia or the South Pacific, especially when a member of an enemy military force. 2.any dark-skinned foreigner, especially one from the Middle East. 3.anyone who is offensive to others because of stupidity, coarseness, etc.
( Cicero fits the dictionaries #3 meaning of the word exactly!)
Note the smiley faces in Cicero's post... He must have considered his post to be humorous.
Another great post!!! Like I made the word up!
Definition #1 a native of Southeast Asia or the South Pacific, especially when a member of an enemy military force.
Would it be "offensive" if I pointed out that during WWII the Japanese were call 'Nips' and the Germans were called "Kraut's"? These offensive slang words are created by the U.S. military to dehumanize the enemy.
I know a few Marines that were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, you would be HORRIFIED to know how they refer to Afghani's and Iraqi's.(No you wouldn't, because you already know, this is all just manufactured outrage)
Definition #1 a native of Southeast Asia or the South Pacific, especially when a member of an enemy military force.
No Cicero, you didn't make up that word, but you chose to used it.
As for your definition??? You deleted some of the words when you reposted... The first few words you seem to need help understanding: It went like this: 1. Slang: "Disparaging and Offensive", a native of Southeast Asia or the South Pacific, especially when a member of an enemy military force.
This thread was about GE's assessment... not your personal vendetta against America's veterans.. but you couldn't miss a chance to bash US Military patriots on a subject that you know nothing about. You ASSUME a lot and understand very little.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Ok, I realize this is prob'ly a "pot 'n black kettle" post for me, since I tend to take threads off topic quite often, but could you guy's (Box, Cic and bxr) move your thoughts to another thread since this is a "very Rotterdam" issue, and is prob'ly gonna have a negative effect on plenty of us here in town, even apartment dwellers like myself, who feel the effects of tax increases just like everyone else........................heck if ya want I'll find another cartoon to post and ya can "riff" on that all day.......................
Ok, I realize this is prob'ly a "pot 'n black kettle" post for me, since I tend to take threads off topic quite often, but could you guy's (Box, Cic and bxr) move your thoughts to another thread since this is a "very Rotterdam" issue, and is prob'ly gonna have a negative effect on plenty of us here in town, even apartment dwellers like myself, who feel the effects of tax increases just like everyone else........................heck if ya want I'll find another cartoon to post and ya can "riff" on that all day.......................
This thread was about GE's assessment... not your personal vendetta against America's veterans.. but you couldn't miss a chance to bash US Military patriots on a subject that you know nothing about. You ASSUME a lot and understand very little.
yes, it was about the GE assessment....Let's take at look a joebxr's post on this thread.
IT'S ANOTHER GOVERNMENT CONSPIRACY BEING SHOVED DOWN OUR THROATS BY THE KGB OPERATIVES EMBEDDED IN THE US GOVERNMENT THAT OPPRESS NATIONS AROUND THE WORLD WITH THEIR MILITARY MIGHT EXERCISING MURDER FOR HIRE AND TARGETING FLAG SALUTING DISSIDENTS!!!!!
As for your claim of a personal vendetta, not a chance. My vendetta is with the war machine that is the USA, and the endless unconstitutional wars and continuous war mongering and propaganda. I just hold the soldier a little bit responsible for their actions in the war. You excuse them from all responsibility, as if they are mindless pawns. I encourage soldiers like Jesse D. Thorsen who showed his support for Ron Paul in his Army uniform. I am that soldier’s best friend. You on the other hand believe he dishonored his service for violating some code of conduct. The president running for re-election can make political speeches using the military as a back drop, but god-forbid a soldier that is forced to listen to that speech wants to show his support for a presidential candidate - that is punishable.
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