Link to D&C David Andreatta article.
Medley Centre developer fails to pay district taxes
That's why the properties in the blogs I did showed him as delinquent - not from PILOT payments - it was because he didn't pay the special district taxes, and the County ponied it up for him (the districts did get their money), and the County took possession of the liens on the property.
According to this informative article by David Andreatta: "County records show that Congel's mall properties, which were given multimillion-dollar breaks on town, county and school taxes to induce their redevelopment, are more than $212,300 in arrears on last year's special district taxes, most of it for the services of the Ridge Culver Fire District.
The county has since taken possession of the liens on the properties and reserves the right to sell them to a third party, although that appears unlikely as the county has not sold any liens since 2007."
Congel DID pay the PILOT payment, according to COMIDA - he just didn't pay the taxes to the districts - which aren't included in the PILOT.
Mr. Andreatta tried to contact Congel's reps - but, in the article it states:
"James LeBeau, who has been a local spokesman for the reclusive Congel on Medley Centre, said he has put his involvement in the project on hold and referred questions to Congel's attorney, Joshua Heintz of Syracuse. Phone and e-mail messages left with Heintz were not returned."
So - they knew an excellent reporter was calling them about taxes they owe....and guess what? I just read a few minutes ago that Congel did make that 2010 payment to the special districts on Friday. Link.
There is another article in today's paper about him paying up on his late taxes, here's the Link.
Here are the properties, and if you click on them - there is no green check marked as delinquent, and if you look at the "payment history" - there is now a payment listed for 2010.
092.05-1-85.111
092.05-85.2
092.05-1-87.1
092.05-1-20
092.05-1-84
092.05-1-18
092.05-1-17
092.05-1-19
092.05-1-16
092.05-1-9
Thanks go out again to David Andreatta - if not for him poking around and asking questions - that LATE TAX money wouldn't have been paid on Friday.
I like to keep up with what's going on in Syracuse (here's a list of articles about Destiny/Congel family )- so I read an article the other day about Lt. Governor Bob Duffy speaking to people in DeWitt, and there was a nice picture of the Lt. Governor with Daddy Congel. Link to story.
From the article: "Duffy then singled out Destiny USA developer Robert Congel in the small crowd, calling him a friend and saying that he was working to lure a company back to Syracuse."
Maybe the Lt. Governor can ask Daddy Congel to ask his son to get moving on investing in the Medley property. The PILOT states that an aggregate amount of $90 million must be invested within 24 months of the entitlement date (April 7th, 2009).
Link to PILOT where milestones are discussed on page 26.
Tick-Tock! Since the Entitlement date of the PILOT was April 7th, 2009 - Congel has approximately 2 months to have "in the aggregate an investment of at least $90,000,000 in the project" - otherwise, he will have to make a "Supplemental Payment" for failure to satisfy the first milestone. (See comments section for a point made by Virginia, and my interpretation of the PILOT language for extensions on the Milestones etc.)
He can't even "commence demolition" on that shit house next to Applebee's - why have I had the feeling that Congel will not honor that PILOT, and will not meet that first milestone, and will probably find some loophole to NOT pay the Supplemental Payment?
13 comments:
Well, well, well.....
David Andreatta starts digging on the delinquent Congel payments last week.
Amazingly, Congel pays his delinquent payments on Friday.
Thank you David! :)
So you were right Jax. The County was covering for Congel. What is it with this guy? He doesn't think he has to pay anyone. Special districts, Passero, the plow guy, $500,000 PILOT pmt. etc.
James LeBeau (spokesperson)has put his involvement on hold. He probably isn't getting paid either. Ha.
Congel had a bad reputation and track record prior to the Medley deal. To bad all the entities involved didn't look more into his ability to secure financing.
He was HIGH RISK and should have had to secure some financing before the PILOT was signed.
We were never protected the way the politician's kept telling us we were. The actions of Congel time and time again prove that.
Congel doesn't deserve any more breaks and he sure hasn't made any friends in Irondequoit.
The more digging that is done, the more you can see that he pulled the wool over a whole bunch of people.
Very sad......
I wish the supervisor would stop saying that her only option is to be "optimistic." Time to start shaming the guy and pursuing all the options to get the property out of his hands.
I know, I know....but you have to tread carefully with this family.
Syracuse's problems with Daddy Congel and Destiny Mall are a hint at what could happen here.
Link to story.
From the article:
"Congel has a history of suing — and winning — when he does not get his way, especially when it comes to paying taxes on the mall."
I hate PILOT deals!!!
Jax, somewhere else in the PILOT it gives a 1 year "get out of jail free" card -- so the actual drop dead date where he needs to invest $90 million is April 2012. But it's worthwhile to point out that he's clearly going to miss this deadline this Spring and now has one year left to hit this milestone.
Note also that the penalty for missing the milestone is just that he owes the town and school district additional money. Like that would ever get paid anyway.
Virginia (is this Ginny? If so....Hello!)
"Jax, somewhere else in the PILOT it gives a 1 year "get out of jail free" card -- so the actual drop dead date where he needs to invest $90 million is April 2012."
I thought that was only if there was litigation. As far as I know....there's no litigation yet.
Maybe it's contingent upon him securing financing.....which in that case....he might never satisfy those milestones.
"Note also that the penalty for missing the milestone is just that he owes the town and school district additional money. Like that would ever get paid anyway."
lol I know. I said that before....milestones do not "protect the taxpayer". If he can't pay the original amount - how is he going to pay that "supplemental payment"?
I'll try reading through that mumbo jumbo in the PILOT again and see if I can find it.
Anybody have a decoder ring I could borrow?
Ah, the memories -
Read HERE (scroll to "lease/back lease") bottom of paragraph, Heyman's comment saying that the she feels the tax payers are protected
Oh, and THIS is interesting - never read this before ...
Ha! - remember this ... THIS regarding Medley -
In my heart I know we worked very hard for this and got a good deal, Heyman says. (THAT"S a knee slapper - yeah, what a great deal, Helen!)
Heyman said the town’s first priority was to create “no added burden” for taxpayers. (oh my!)
Heyman said she’s confident that a new PILOT will ensure “the most development in the shortest amount of time.
oh, oh - I think I like this THIS one the best -
The agreement we reach will have the most amount of flexibility and the least amount of risk for the town,” she promised.
(Awe, she promised)
Government can’t make the project happen, but we believe we worked out a fair and equitable deal for the town and the opportunity for the developer to be successful,” Heyman said.
Oh, there we have it - opportunity for developer to be successful .... I get it now. And screw the tax payers.
Virginia -
I looked at the PILOT again - and - you are correct that he has until the following year to pay that supplemental payment and satisfy that first milestone...AND he has the option to extend the milestones for a year.
I am understanding it this way:
IF he fails to satisfy the first Milestone - the next PILOT year AFTER the date the first Milestone was to be reached (like you said, April 2012), he'll be charged the Supplemental Payment - unless he provides some sort of documentation that he satisfied that milestone before the next PILOT year.
So - basically - this year he will not satisfy that first Milestone of a $90 million investment. He has until next April to pay that supplemental payment for failure to satisfy that first Milestone.
He also has the option to extend the Milestone dates. There are two options, each for a period of 6 months. He has to deliver written notice for each option to extend. He can use both at once (for an extension of a year) or he can use the two on separate occasions (6 months each), but no more than twice can he elect to use this option. If he uses either/both options - it will extend all dates of all Milestones.
For example, if he uses one option to extend on the first Milestone - all milestone dates will be extended by 6 months. If he uses both options - all milestone dates will be extended a year, and there will be no more options to extend.
PILOT link Pages 29 & 30, Sections 8.5 and 8.6.
Also - I was reading the F.A.Q. section about Medley that was put on the Town website in March of 2009 - way down at the bottom, it says this:
"When will the Medley Centre PILOT Agreement Terminate?
If the developer does not obtain permanent financing for the project, the PILOT Agreement will terminate on
January 1, 2020, which is the same date that the existing PILOT Agreement covering the existing mall expires.
If the developer does secure permanent financing, however, the new Medley Centre PILOT will terminate 30
years after the first permanent financing on the project."
Which means he can wait to secure permanent financing until 2019.....and then when he does secure permanent financing, the "new" PILOT term goes into effect, and that will expire 30 years after the date that he secures permanent financing.
Basically, this PILOT can last until the year 2049!
The PILOT agreement (page 1 4.f) lists the expiration date of the PILOT as December 31st, 2045.
Most people thought the PILOT would expire 30 years from the date it was signed (April 7th, 2009) and that would be 2039.
I'll be in my 70's or 80's by the time this PILOT term expires.
I could have great-grandchildren by then.
Good grief.
Kate -
Hilarious. I thought for sure the road into Medley would be paved with gold and the land flowing with milk and honey by now. I mean...we were told how much they wanted to get their shovels in the ground and create jobs.
Great quotes! Love this one: “the most development in the shortest amount of time."
Uh-huh.
Jax said - "Basically, this PILOT can last until the year 2049!"
But we are protected Jax. The politician's said so....
"Mary Ellen Heyman, Supervisor of the Town of Irondequoit, felt the PILOT and milestones protect the taxpayers, and noted that the PILOT was approved unanimously by the Town Board."
Thanks Kate for that flashback! The TB was protecting the taxpayer by signing a PILOT that is good until 2049 with a developer with a bad track record...um sure....
"In my heart I know we worked very hard for this and got a good deal," Heyman says.
A good deal for who? Congel!?
"Heyman said she’s confident that a new PILOT will ensure “the most development in the shortest amount of time.”
MOST development, how about SOME?
What happened to the shovels? Where are the shovels?
Hi Kate, Jax, and Cheri,
Yes it is me -- now that I have to use my Google account when I sign in, I'm Virginia :-)
Well, I think the bottom line is just a reminder that anytime a deal "has to be rushed through," it's almost invariably a bad deal. We citizens need to get better about stopping things in their tracks instead of relying on the "trust me" statements of elected officials who are trying to rush any public process.
Ah, so great to think about Medley again. Gets my blood pressure back up to critical levels.
Virginia -
I changed it back - you should be able to sign in under Ginny again. I changed it to google account because there were too many anonymous' and I couldn't keep track of them all.
You had a great idea a while ago - about asking the town board to consider a resolution that requires 45 days of review from the release of the PILOT to a public hearing or final approval and adoption. That way, there is enough time to review the deal and bring up any concerns/questions.
That was not the case with this PILOT deal.
Maybe you can submit that to the board in writing instead of going to a TB meeting to do it?
I think it was a great idea.
One of the members of the editorial board wrote a blog about Medley and the tax deals involved.
Here if you'd like to read it.
Hi Ginny! Good to see you!
You said - Well, I think the bottom line is just a reminder that anytime a deal "has to be rushed through," it's almost invariably a bad deal. We citizens need to get better about stopping things in their tracks instead of relying on the "trust me" statements of elected officials who are trying to rush any public process.
Total agreement!
Medley Homework
The process was corrupt from the beginning. East School Board Members flatly refused to allow public comment on the Pilot Contract. They had all the answers----cough cough cough--or was it they were protecting their old pal Board Member turned supervisor. Does anyone know if the Board read thru the Needs Study or the Feasibility Study to see if there was any viability to the proposal?
Or was this just one more public funding of insider friends to get tax dollars returned to campaigns? How much was paid to the favored attorney for his brilliant work? How much did the engineers receive for their work?
The Pilot Agreement allows the Effective Tax Dollars to be funneled back to pay the mortgage on the construction. Did the Boards give you a chance to have your tax dollars pay your mortgage?
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