This is what I want to see more people do more of. Your Town/Village/City is run on taxes. Your taxes. Most people just pay their tax bills every year and complain and just forget about it until the next tax bill comes. Most people never really question it, research it, or do anything about it.
Two sure things in life: Death and Taxes.
Certainties aside, you can extend your life by living healthy, scheduling routine doctor visits, taking medicine, having surgery etc., and doing all that you need to do to take care of yourself. You pay attention to your health, you maintain it, and you change things if you find that what you are doing isn't good for you (hopefully you do.) You wouldn't sit there with a broken leg and say "Eh....it happens....just gotta deal with it." You would try to "fix it".
Yes, death is a certainty - but when death is going to visit isn't. You can extend your life if you do the things you need to do to make it happen.
Same thing with taxes. You can extend your tax dollars if you take an active role in deciding what your taxes pay for, and how they are spent, and take an active role in the "health" of your tax dollars. Don't just sit there with your "broken legs"......fix it!
Which is why I like the above article on community activists taking an active part in studying ways to "fix it".
For right now, it is just a "fact finding" starting point, and includes citizens who are interested in participating with an open mind on many things - consolidation, shared services - whatever you want to call it, it's just getting the dialogue going, and involving anyone who wants to be involved. A former Irondequoit Police Chief has been contacted, as well as Democrat Monroe County Legislator Ted O'Brien. Hopefully, the School District administrators will involve themselves in this too, as the article states that one of the possibilities might be to merge the school districts (which I am in favor of).
Your Town, your taxes....your involvement is important!
Kudos to the Irondequoit residents who are "walking the walk"!
Lump it:
I guess this situation is just something "we" have to deal with.
Doesn't mean I have to like it. Didn't like it then, don't like it now, and personally, I was disappointed reading this article.
I can't express in words how much I dislike PILOT deals. For anyone, anywhere, at any time. I don't care if it was my Grandma that asked for a PILOT deal for her business - I would tell her to stuff it where the sun don't shine just like I would tell Congel or anyone else.
Which is why I would never succeed as a Supervisor, or in politics in general. (Ya think? lol)
Yes, I'd love to have the business in Irondequoit - but if you can't play by the tax rules that everyone else has to play by.....then go somewhere else to get your taxpayer welfare.
Yes, I'd love for Congel to follow through on his promises - but if he can't produce that $500,000 payment that is due......then......ugh.....WE CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT! Because the geniuses behind crafting the PILOT deal that supposedly "protected us" did not provide any sort of recourse, or penalty in the PILOT deal to collect the $500,000 that is owed to the Town.
Another reason why I really, really, reeeeaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllyyyyyyy dislike PILOT deals.
There are no uniform standards, each company gets to negotiate it's own private deal....and that leaves the whole PILOT program open to abuse. Not to mention - a lot of companies fail to meet their original job creation promises and rarely are they penalized. More than likely, the people behind crafting PILOT deals (all three entities) have NO BUSINESS doing so. How on earth is a school board and Superintendent qualified to sit in on negotiations? Have you been paying attention to school budgets lately? Yeah. Ok. Even Supervisors and County Executives....what kind of qualifications do they have in crafting these deals? You've got "small town" lawyers going up against a million dollar developer who can afford to hire Lamborghini Lawyers - and you're sitting there with your Ford Pinto counsel. Good grief!
PILOT deals need to go the way of the dinosaur. Believe me, if the developer thinks your area is going to make them money - they'll develop in your area regardless of the taxes they'll have to pay like everyone else does. If they are good at what they do, the citizens will reward them by patronizing their business to make them successful.
Remember when businesses did that? A business offered a good or service, and people went there and spent their money of their own free will? Remember that?
Congel, you owe the Town of Irondequoit $500,000. Stop giving thousands in political donations. Check the crevices in your Remington Italian Inlayed leather couch at your mansion in Colorado for spare change if you have to - but pay up that 500K to the town like you agreed to when you signed your name to that PILOT deal. You signed an agreement that specifies this payment was due on April 7th, 2009. It is just shy of a year on this, there are no "legal actions" that I know of that would give you the benefit of deferring this payment, and the Town has (and is) holding up their end of the agreement. I don't know the content of your character or anything, but regardless, I expect you to hold up your end of the agreement as well. Your history in other towns and cities doesn't give me confidence that you will honor your signed PILOT deal.
You've had many problems with your projects in other cities and towns. The only thing that I am confident in is that you will be consistent in that trend with your plans in Irondequoit. Have fun flying in your private jet to all of your projects. I'm sure you're laughing all the way to the bank.
Related articles Carousel Center, Destiny USA, Congel, D&C article.
Video - Continuing Saga of Destiny USA.
I wish somebody would grow a set and step up and demand that he start producing what he promised. His track record alone....should have sent up red flags....but no. What's the worst that could happen? He walks away from the project or fails to build and he goes back on the tax roll? Gee, that would suck, eh?
Or, maybe he'll "threaten" us by selling to a non-profit and the Town will get NO taxes!!!!
Somebody actually said that at the PB meeting Monday night about the Newport project. Link to PB meeting video.
Basically, if we don't let Mancini do whatever he wants, he could sell to a non-profit and we'd get no taxes at all.
Yeah, annnnd........? It's private property, right? He can do that if he wants. I have a hard time believing that Mancini will take selling to a non-profit vs. making millions off of his development just to "get back" at the town. He doesn't seem like the "bite off your nose to spite your face" kinda guy....he's a business man, not a stupid man.
I'm not against the development, I think it's tasteful, and nice, and appropriate for the area. I'm against the taxpayers reconstructing the road right now. I'm also against "Well, you'd better let RSM do whatever they want or they'll sell to a non-profit just to spite you people, and you'll get nothing. NOTHINNNNNNNNGGGG!"
I dislike being threatened as much as I dislike PILOT deals. I wouldn't "go that route".
