County, city want what they say Steve Aaron owes them

Stall tactics?

According to O’Halloran, Aaron, by contrast, played for time by repeatedly indicating he was prepared to negotiate a settlement, then failing to appear before the IDA board. At its September meeting, O’Halloran said, the board voted to set a Nov. 16 deadline for a settlement, after which they would send a letter of default. In November, however, after receiving assurances from Aaron’s counsel that a settlement was in the works, they voted to give him another month. By December, the IDA board was out of patience and Aaron was out of time.

“Birchwood Village has basically taken delay tactics,” said O’Halloran. “They have not presented a single piece of paper to our office.”

O’Halloran said Aaron has 120 days to “cure” the default by either paying up or entering into a payment schedule agreed upon by the IDA board. If he fails to do that, the agency is has a number of punitive measures at its disposal, including revocation of the PILOT agreement. That would force Aaron to pay 100 percent of the complex’s assessed value retroactively to 2005.

O’Halloran said the compliance review and the ensuing enforcement action reflects stepped-up vigilance on the part of the Ulster IDA, which instituted new penalties and “callback” procedures in 2008. O’Halloran said prior to the changes, the Ulster IDA, like its counterparts across the state, had tended to focus on the PILOT approval process while doing little or no follow-up to ensure that beneficiaries were living up to their end of the bargain.

O’Halloran said unpaid PILOT bills were especially troubling in light of the fact that, unlike with traditional taxes, the county does not “make whole” municipalities and school districts owed money under the IDA benefit program. “These end up being actual holes in their budget,” said O’Halloran. “And this is happening at a time when they’re laying off teachers.”

Foreclosure?

The standoff over the PILOT comes as City Hall prepares to transition from the administration of Mayor James Sottile, who has been supportive of Aaron, to that of Shayne Gallo, who has told supporters that he plans to take a hard line over the unpaid taxes.