Thursday, April 12, 2012

Here We Go Again

David O'Halloran's vendetta against Steve Aaron continues:
Developer Steve Aaron will lose a special tax break deal on a Flatbush Avenue apartment complex after failing make a back tax payment owed on the facility before a deadline set for today, officials said.

David O’Halloran, chairman of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency, said he will sign documentation on Friday to “terminate” Aaron’s payment-in-lieu-of tax plan for the Birchwood Village apartment complex.
Interesting that the Freeman should be on this story so quickly, isn't it? Almost as if O'Halloran went out of his way to contact the paper. And this isn't about taxes. If it were, then O'Halloran would already know that this matter is currently being litigated. Birchez thinks the city botched the assessment. It's as simple as that. This was all outlined in a letter to the editor published in the Kingston Times back in early January:
Over two years ago, Birchez asked for assistance from the IDA attorney and Lance Matteson, president of the IDA, to append, that is to have them clarify, not change, the PILOT. We asked for instructive language that the 581(a) section of the RPTL be applied to calculate the assessed value upon which the PILOT would then be determined. The statement that we “would pay no taxes” under current RPTL — attributed to IDA Chairman David O’Halloran in the article — is incorrect. In fact, prior to the initial IDA Board meetings on the issue, we had shown, in a presentation to Mr. O’Halloran, the PILOT amount Birchez legally owed.
Birchez believes that the assessment is wrong, and even asked for the IDA's help. The company also tried to pay these taxes, but were rebuffed by Kingston officials:
We have made attempts to pay the amount we owe under the law. When the payments were not accepted by the city tax collector, we then deposited funds each year into an escrow account. We were not asked for a payment plan as stated in the article, nor would one be required as the monies put into escrow are double the amounts that are legally owed; the monies remain in escrow to this day. To say that our water and sewer bills with the City of Kingston are unpaid is another false statement attributed to Mr. O’Halloran. We remain current with Birchwood Village’s water and sewer bills.
Follow the link above if you want to see a copy of the cancelled check.

So what's going on here? And why is the Freeman refusing to look into this matter? It boggles the mind.

What is clear is that, for whatever reason, O'Halloran has it in for Birchez. Again, O'Halloran is buddy-buddy with the Bernardos. And Len Bernardo sits on the board of Ellenville Regional Hospital, a company that will benefit from the privatization of Golden Hill -- especially if they can get Birchez out of the way and go with their own developer (cough*Jonah Mandelbaum*cough).

O'Halloran is as unprofessional and self-serving as they come. I wonder how long it will be before someone decides that his fleabag hotel should receive a visit from the health department?

28 comments:

  1. Aaron is the most hated person in Ulster County. I don't care who is going after him, he deserves it. Ask the taxpayers who are picking up his share of taxes in Saugerties,Ulster, Kingston and Esopus. He is a money grubbing poverty pimp who should be called out for what he does.

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  2. maybe O'Halloran should look at bernardos IDA agreement and think about calling that in Whats good for one is good for all. Maybe Aaron should bring that up in court how corrupt David has made the IDA under Bernardos orders

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  3. Before Quigley kicked Woerner out of office in the Town of Ulster, Steve Aaron "renegotiated" his PILOT for an 80% reduction - that year, the property owners got a 20% increase out of the deal.

    Aaron negotiates the PILOT, and then "puts money into an escrow account," and doesn't remit to the taxing authority.

    I'm no O'Halloran fan (far from it), but in this case I have to admit that I'm happy he's taken action. PILOTs (to my limited knowledge) are negotiated on the land and then when the building is built, assessments are done on the building or other improvements (infrastructure, etc.). Aaron always complains that the assessment is too high. Don't we all think our taxes are too high? I have yet to meet anyone who complains that they're not paying enough in taxes (except for Warren Buffett, and I haven't met him).

    Aaron has the option of PAYING FIRST and filing a claim to get any difference owed to him. Everyone's tax liability is in the taxing authorities' budgets as accounts receivable. Expenditures are projected based on projected revenue.

    When Aaron doesn't pay his debts, then school districts, towns, the county, and the city now have to figure out what doesn't get paid or purchased.

    I, for one, am tired of footing his bill.

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  4. When reached Thursday afternoon, Aaron said that the issue will ultimately end up being decided by the courts.
    “I appreciate the IDA trying to get it resolved,” Aaron said.

    Surprise, Surprise......

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  5. Mr. O'Halloran is known for calling in the Freeman with his own personal "breaking news" when he has something to gain from it. I'm sure he has the Freeman on speed dial.

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  6. Aaron has collected the taxes from his poor suffering tenants. So he already has the money. If he doesn't pay, what are the chances of him giving the unforunate's who rent from him the refunds? What a joke. Don't even know this O'halloran, but he is a hero to me.

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  7. Good point, 8:28 - I was wondering how it made the Freeman's late afternoon online edition. O'Halloran must've called the Freeman at 4:31 p.m.

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  8. This date was on everyone's calendar. The IDA, the City, the County, other people with PILOT's and probably the Freeman's too. They were all waiting to see if Aaron paid the $260k debt that he owes.
    O'Halloran is sitting in the big chair at the IDA, he will be the spokesman.
    Take it for what it is, Aaron trying to get out of another GREAT tax deal he agreed to and is legally obligated to adhere to so he doesn't have to pay even close to his share of taxes once again!

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  9. Aaron is saying that he tried to pay what he owes "under the law"; that's HIS version of what he owes. What he's saying is, he tried to pay what he thinks he should pay, not what the city is asking for. Aaron tried to pay a fraction of what he owes. If the city accepted the check, then they couldn't dun him for the remainder. He knew that and the city knew that - it was an offer the city could refuse.

    You can't make partial payments on your taxes. You can make two installments, each for half the amount owed (the penny more is on the first half).

    Remember when the mall fought its assessment and the town, county, and school district had to pay thousands of dollars in overpaid taxes? They paid the bill, litigated, and won. The school had to pay $2.7M!!!

    http://freemanonline.com/articles/2009/03/11/news/doc49b72338ca49f482831014.txt

    Why doesn't Aaron pay what he owes and on time and then litigate like the HV Mall did?

    I'm surprised that Cloakroom would defend this dirtbag. I know you don't like O'Halloran, but portraying Aaron as the victim is unconscionable.

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  10. No defending Aaron -- if he owes, he owes. But, he does seem to be O'Halloran's whipping post. I'd like to see a list of how many other businesses are delinquent or have defaulted on their PILOTs. We all know the Bernardos defaulted on their IDA agreement to hire 20 full-time employees. What kind of sweet deals has O'Halloran worked for himself and his decrepit horse farm? Why don't we hear more about all these PILOTs? Cloakroom, I challenge you to find out how much taxpayers are paying for tax breaks to businesses that provide so few jobs in Ulster County.

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  11. Yes, and while you are researching, please let us know how much each of those solar consortium jobs cost the taxpayers. And just for good measure, perhaps you coulld let us know what the officers of the solar consortium are being compensated, etc etc etc.

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  12. And don't you just love it that O'Halloran was trying to bring the tourism department under the purview of the IDA? Let's see. You're the IDA Board Chairman and own a tourism related business and are a member of the Lodging Industry Association AND you want to control the Tourism Department all while your business was recently named Tourism Business of the Year? Forget about muddying the waters. This is a swamp.

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  13. 7:49 --> That is how the Republican party operates now and always has. Different faces and different businesses but the same results.

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  14. Aaron may not be the nicest guy in the world, but he builds very good housing. And he's entitled to his day in court like anyone else. And why isn't O'Halloran, and the Freeman/Record, looking into the other scofflaws? Seems like they're being very selective.

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  15. His day in court? He is in court because he is trying to get out of the deal he agreed to when he got his project built. I do not understand how taxpayers are suppose to excuse this unethical behavior because poverty pimps like him want to make more money. Don't forget, a very, very high percentage of his income is taxpayer funded. Poverty pimps treat taxpayers like ATM's. It is time to put an end to it.

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  16. "Poverty pimp" is a racially charged catch phrase. If you don't like black and Hispanic people, move somewhere else.

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  17. Racially charged? Really that may be true in your warped way of thinking, but last time I checked the person who owns the property and was neither African American nor Hispanic. How do you even know if I am African American or Hispanic?

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  18. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_pimp

    Poverty pimp or "professional poverty pimp" is a pejorative label used to convey that an individual or group is benefiting unduly by acting as an intermediary on behalf of the poor, the disadvantaged, or some other "victimized" groups.

    Those who use this appellation suggest that those so labeled profit unduly from the misfortune of others, and therefore do not really wish the societal problems that they appear to work on to be eliminated permanently, as it is not in their own interest for this to happen.

    The most frequent targets of this accusation are those receiving government funding or that solicit private charity to work on issues on behalf of various disadvantaged individuals or groups, but who never seem to be able to show any amelioration of the problems experienced by their target population. Some even suggest that that if profit were eliminated as a factor, greater steps in the alleviation of the oppressive situations could begin to truly occur.

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  19. You use the term, "poverty pimp," several times, and I'm the one who's warped? You need help.

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  20. My mother lives in one of the Birches senior developments and she has never been happier. They provide everything she needs in terms of security, clean-n-green living, and well-built, well-maintained housing. She's very proud to live there. I don't know how much Aaron's company pays in taxes compared to other businesses, but I do wish whoever is calling him a poverty pimp would visit one of his developments and see how happy the people are.

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  21. Poverty pimp or "professional poverty pimp" is a pejorative label used to convey that an individual or group is benefiting unduly by acting as an intermediary on behalf of the poor, the disadvantaged, or some other "victimized" groups.

    Those who use this appellation suggest that those so labeled profit unduly from the misfortune of others, and therefore do not really wish the societal problems that they appear to work on to be eliminated permanently, as it is not in their own interest for this to happen.

    The most frequent targets of this accusation are those receiving government funding or that solicit private charity to work on issues on behalf of various disadvantaged individuals or groups, but who never seem to be able to show any amelioration of the problems experienced by their target population. Some even suggest that that if profit were eliminated as a factor, greater steps in the alleviation of the oppressive situations could begin to truly occur.

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  22. 7:50 - if you're going to plagiarize, you shouldn't choose the first entry from Google. Of course, Wikipedia is the first entry, and you merely copied and pasted.

    According to Wikipedia, Steve Aaron is most definitely a poverty pimp with his "affordable housing" projects. He does profit unduly from the misfortune of the lower socio-economic class who reside in his Birchez development. He doesn't care one whit about those residents, yet he consistently fights against paying his fair share while collecting the monthly checks from the "guvment".

    Those who live in his senior housing love their housing situation. But don't give Aaron credit that he cares about the elderly. He cares only about his bottom line. He should still pay his taxes...on time!

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  23. 7:50 talk to the blog administrator, I put it up and they pulled it.

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  24. Nice name-calling 12:35 - since you didn't attribute it to Wikipedia, one would fairly assume that it was original post. I know very well what plagiarized means - do you know how to type, "From Wikipedia:...," and then copy and paste? Why didn't you give credit where credit is due? By NOT posting the source, you plagiarized.

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  25. ...seems like 12:35 is hypersensitive....

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  26. @08:03 What the hell are you talking about?

    PLAGIARIZE = to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own.

    How on earth is 7:50 taking credit for anything when nobody knows who he/she is? For all I know, he/she might be the person who wrote those paragraphs on Wikipedia.

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  27. As I said, I put the Wikipedia link and the content of the page in a post. The Blog administrator removed it.

    If you have an issue, it should be with the poverty pimps who continue to milk the government at every turn. Go ahead and get angry with the poverty pimps whose only goal is to try an renege on legal commitments through the courts. Be upset with the poverty pimps who use taxpayer money to build personal wealth and get upset when they are treated like everyone else. Look at the politicians who enable, and even encourage these poverty pimps and call them out! Ask them why, ask them how much $$ they have received in terms of contributions and the like.

    Is getting upset over a posting from wikipedia important? Focus on what the real problems is. Poverty Pimps abusing the taxpayers.

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