A special election set for Tuesday, Feb. 10, will give town residents their
first chance to vote on funding for roadway improvements at and around the New
Hartford Business Park.
The vote centers around a $2.9 million bond
anticipation note approved by the Town Board in April 2008. The money is funding the reconstruction of the
intersection at Seneca Turnpike and Woods Highway and improvements within the
business park.
| IF YOU GO |
| What: Special election on bond issue
When: Noon to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 10 Where: All town polling places will be open Absentee ballots: Those interested in absentee ballots should contact the town clerk at 733-7500. |
If it's approved, the bonding will be transferred to a long-term
serial bond that matches up with a 15-year payment-in-lieu of taxes agreement
the town, school district and county have with the The Hartford Financial Services Group.
If it's not, town residents will
face a large tax increase in five years when the town has to pay the balance of
the bond note.
“If they vote it down, we'd have to raise taxes,” town
Supervisor Earle Reed said. “That's crazy. That would be a terrible thing to
happen.”
However, a civic group often critical of how town government
handles financial matters is questioning why residents weren't given the chance
to vote in the first place - before the town spent the money.
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“The town used short-term financing … to finance a $2.9 million
controversial project for a private developer so that town residents would not
have a say in the borrowing,” said Catherine Lawrence, co-founder of Concerned
Citizens for Open and Honest Government.
“When you are talking debt in
the millions of dollars, the taxpayers deserve a right to decide before the
money is spent.”
Certified public accountant Frank Basile, whose firm FJ
Basile, CPAs, PC, acts as a financial consultant for the town, said a bond
anticipation note was used because it provides greater flexibility during the
planning and construction phase of a new development.
“They are much
more adaptable especially when the total amount of the project cost and
borrowing is subject to change,” Basile said.
As far as deciding whether
money is spent, voters choose a town supervisor and board members to make
decisions on their behalf, Basile said. Without the PILOT agreement, The
Hartford would have moved elsewhere, he said.
“That is why it is so
important for the taxpayers to fully understand the concept of the PILOT
agreement and that the bond debt service will not be a burden or a cost to the
town taxpayers,” Basile said. “If the taxpayers vote in favor of the 15-year
serial bond, the payment of the related debt service will cost the taxpayers
nothing as originally designed.”
Town resident Randy Soggs, a developer
of retail properties who serves as a member of the Mohawk Valley EDGE Board of
Directors, said he understands the process because of the town's need to stay
flexible.
“It's not like it's been arbitrarily imposed,” Soggs said.
“The town was working with a developer, and in order to do that it had to
maintain flexibility of the financing structure.”
Soggs said the
measures were taken for the long-term good of the town.
“I think the
town was making an effort to ensure we had preservation of the local economy,”
he said. “They felt this corridor was a great jumpstart to creating more
opportunity.”
If the serial bond is voted down, the town could bring it
up again each year for the next four years, Basile said.
