No More Skating for Skate Time?

With the Ulster County IDA going after projects that have failed to meet the agency's job requirements to receive their respective, and quite lucrative, tax subsidies, many people have been waiting with bated breath as to whether Skate Time 209 would receive scrutiny. And it appears that the dam may be breaking. In today's THR, Jessica DiNapoli outlines the changes to the Hudson Valley Sports Dome's PILOT agreement. The owners will be on the hook for an additional $20k in taxes over the next three years, which is as it should be. Giving one person a tax break means that the rest of us will be picking up the tab. So, when we award breaks to certain companies, we need to perform due diligence to ensure we're getting our money's worth. The dome created just two jobs, when the original agreement had called for 16; however well-intentioned the original plan was, it's right and proper that the owners should be paying their fair share.

Then, DiNapoli finally gets to the elephant in the room:

The board will also then discuss other under-performing projects — John J. Lease's business park in the Town of Lloyd, Skate Time 209 in the Town of Rochester and Kingston Hospitality, the owner of the Hampton Inn in Kingston.

One of Lease's 7,500-square-foot buildings was projected to create 66 jobs on its original application in 2005 but has created only 42.

The IDA board is weighing whether or not to consider Lease's sister office building, Lloyd Park I, in its deliberations. That building has more than double the employees it initially projected.

Skate Time 209 — which applied to the IDA as TLB Management — projected 37 jobs but only has nine, according to IDA documentation.

The Hampton Inn reported 22 jobs in 2011, but initially projected employing 30.

So, Skate Time 209 will be reviewed. Good, as the taxpayers shouldn't be footing the bill for the Bernardos' failed projections.

And this could also give IDA Chairman David O'Halloran a chance to silence some of his critics. He's good friends with the Bernardos, so much so that he's been accused of carrying their water. Making Skate Time pay its fair share would show that O'Halloran is his own man and not Len Bernardo's caddy.

(hat-tip to Rochester Smoke Out)