Politics & Government

Palisades Center Gets $20 Million Refund From Clarkstown, School District

The Town of Clarkstown and Clarkstown Central School District agreed Monday to refund almost $20million to the Palisades Center.

The mall, owned by Eklecco Newco, LLC will receive $13 million from the school district, $5 million from the town and approximately $2 million from Rockland County and various special districts. The town board and school board met in a special session Monday night to vote on the proposed tax settlement, which covers tax years from 2009/2010 through 2013/2014.  The boards voted separately but both unanimously approved the agreement.

The school district, which owes 65 percent of the settlement, will withdraw $13 million from its $14 million tax certiorari reserve fund to pay its share. The town plans to bond instead of taking money from its reserve fund of $16 million.  

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Assistant School Superintendent John LaNave said the payment would not affect taxpayers. 

“We’ll be setting the tax rate on August 8, it will have no impact,” he said. 

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LaNave estimated the mall has been paying between $27 and $28 million in taxes to the school district and town.  The agreement stipulates the mall’s annual tax payment for the next four years will be set at $21 million.  Town Supervisor Alex Gromack said new developments such as the Shops At Nanuet, O&R substations and other projects before the planning board will help to offset the multimillion loss. 

Whatever the mall’s assessed value is set at for the 2016/2017 tax year will remain the same for the following three years. A provision prevents the West Nyack mall from challenging its assessment for seven years. 

The mall, which consists of 42 parcels, agreed to pay $150,000 annually beginning in October to Clarkstown over the agreement’s seven-year term to help defray the cost of police services. Three residents spoke during the public comment period prior to the boards’ votes. 

Steven Levine of Congers spoke against reducing the mall’s assessment because of its considerable use of the town’s police and judicial services.

“This mall has been a blight onto our community,” he said.

Tom Nimick of New City suggested the town shift bonding from discretionary projects to pay for the tax certiorari instead of issuing new bonds. The town has bonded in the neighborhood of $100 million. 

Mall representatives at the meeting did not comment.  The formal settlement is expected to be finalized within days and then presented to Rockland County Supreme Court Judge Margaret Garvey for her approval. 

The parties had agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding on July 18. It does note that the assessment will not be affected by any renovations or upgrades to the interior or exterior as long as they do not increase the mall's gross leasable space.  Palisades Center had been seeking a 60 percent reduction in its property tax assessment which if successful could have resulted in a more than $40 million refund.  


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