Canterino: “… I need to protect all residents of Goshen …”
GOSHEN – Some two dozen people expressed their views on whether the Legoland theme park, proposed in the Town of Goshen, should be approved for a 30-year payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) agreement through the Orange County Industrial Development Agency.
Some speakers questioned the 30-year timeframe sought by the company
when most other agreements with the IDA are for a standard 10-year PILOT.”I
will be dead in 30 years,” said Deborah Corr of Goshen, founder
of Stop Legoland, Goshen, New York. She called the proposed term “outrageous.”
County Legislator Phil Canterino wants all financial data pertaining to the project to protect his constituents.
“I am calling for an incredibly detailed financial disclosure on all of these facts because in my 25 years I have never a polarized issue as this where we have people – the residents of Goshen – are split, maybe not down the middle, but they are so polarized over this,” Canterino said. “This is a critical issue and I need to protect all the residents of Goshen because that’s my job, no matter which way it goes.”
William Fioravanti, director of business attraction with the Orange County Partnership, called the project “a game changer” that deserved the financial incentives.
“If any program or any project needs incentives and deserves one, it is this,” Fioravanti said. “It is a total game changer. We are talking 1,300 job, 800 construction jobs; half a billion dollars of investment in this area.”
Goshen Town Supervisor Douglas Bloomfield said he personally supports the project, but the town board has not yet discussed it in detail since the board has not been privy to all of the details.
Robert Miller, assistant superintendent for business in the Goshen Central School District expressed a concern about the length of the PILOT agreement.
“Our main concern is are you willing to approve something shorter than a 30 year PILOT in keeping with your policy of 10 to 15 year PILOTS,” Miller asked.
One local resident went so far as to say the PILOT proposal should be decided in a public referendum.
Two other financial incentives are also being sought by Legoland – an exemption on sales tax for building materials, which would save the company some $10 million, and exemption on mortgage filing fees, a savings of some $3.5 million.
