Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Residents offered their critiques of officials' stances on the proposed Payment in Lieu of Taxes program for AvalonBay.
Pointed words and pointing fingers took center stage during Tuesday’s Bloomingdale Council meeting as members of the public questioned multiple council members and the mayor about their stances on the AvalonBay Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program. The PILOT program would give the developer of AvalonBay, a luxury apartment complex on Union Avenue, the ability to make payments to the borough in lieu of paying taxes for 30 years. The majority of the money collected from the payments would be retained by the borough, as oppose to going to the school district and the county. The comments, which stretched the early public discussion section of the meeting to nearly two hours, come two weeks after Republican Council Members Mark Conklin, Jo-…
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Mayor says council majority ignored professionals who called AvalonBay Payment in Lieu of Taxes program a 'win-win' for the borough.
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Wednesday, September 26, 2012
The following is a Letter to the Editor submitted by Bloomingdale Mayor Jonathan Dunleavy. If you would like to submit a Letter to the Editor, send it to ariana.cohn-sheehan@patch.com I am deeply sorry to report that the majority of the Republican council, including Linda Shortman, Jo-Ann Pituch and Mark Conklin, have voted to defeat an agreement which would have brought in $550,000 in tax ratables per year (6 tax points) in connection with the AvalonBay project. Notwithstanding this opportunity, which would have guaranteed no tax increase and set Bloomingdale on a path towards extinguishing its overburdened debt and borrowing expense, the council majority dismissed the proposal on Tuesday, September 25, 2012. History The suggestion to …
Bloomingdale Council majority members said they did not believe PILOT program would benefit borough's taxpayers.
The Bloomingdale Council voted against adopting an ordinance to move forward with a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program with luxury apartment developer AvalonBay on Tuesday night. The PILOT program would have granted the borough payments over the next 30 years in lieu of the developer, currently building an apartment complex on Union Avenue, paying taxes. The municipality would have recouped the bulk of the benefit from the payments, bringing in 95 percent of the money, while the county would have received 5 percent. Aside from money from a land tax credit, the school district would not have received money from the developer for the length of the PILOT program. Council members discussed the program over the course of at least three …
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Tuesday's Bloomingdale Council meeting was canceled. A special meeting will be held on Sept. 25 instead.
The Bloomingdale Council meeting originally scheduled for Tuesday night has been canceled because of a lack of quorum. Instead, a special meeting will be held Sept. 25 at 7 p.m. at Bloomingdale Borough Hall. According to the agenda for Tuesday's meeting, the council would have held a public hearing and planned to vote on the proposed Avalon Bay Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) program. The PILOT program would give the developer of a luxury apartment complex on Union Avenue the ability to make payments to the borough in lieu of paying taxes for 30 years, thereby having the money split between the municipality and county as opposed to the majority going to the school district. The PILOT program ordinance was expected to be voted on during a …
Monday, September 17, 2012
Councils, Butler Board of Education to meet.
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Monday, September 17, 2012
The Bloomingdale Council will continue discussion on the proposed Avalon Bay Payment in Lieu of Taxes program during this week's council meeting. The council will be meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Bloomingdale Borough Hall. The Butler Council will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the municipal building. The Butler Board of Education will meet for the first time since the new school year on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. in the Butler High School Library. The Kinnelon Council will host its regular meeting Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Kinnelon Municipal Building.
Friday, September 7, 2012
With two council members absent and one recused, mayor asks for discussion on Payment in Lieu of Taxes program for developer to be postponed.
One theme of Thursday's special Bloomingdale Council meeting was trust. Trust that public officials are truthful in their intentions for a program that would allow the developer of luxury apartment complex Avalon Bay a tax abatement because it would mean a benefit for the Borough of Bloomingdale. But while at least four residents referenced their lack of trust in politicians during their comments on the proposed Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) progam, Mayor Jonathan Dunleavy and Borough Attorney Fred Semrau said the program would be a guaranteed win for the borough. "Unlike other municipalities where they want to give a tax advantage for a developer to come in, we didn't have to give a tax advantage for Avalon Bay to come in. We didn't …
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Mayor said rental community's proposed tax break would lead to a larger benefit for Bloomingdale.
Several Bloomingdale residents expressed their concerns Tuesday night with a proposed program to offer a tax break in exchange for payments from the Avalon Bay luxury rental community, under construction on Union Avenue. The council voted to make the Avalon Bay section of Union Avenue a redevelopment area so that the council could further consider entering a PILOT program with the developer. Under the program, which is being discussed in negotiations, Avalon Bay would make payments to the borough in lieu of paying taxes for the next 30 years. After the 30 years, taxation would apply. While the dollar amount of the payments has not yet been decided, the benefit to the borough would be that money that would typically go to the board of …
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Councilwoman not in agreement with mayor's stance.
Bloomingdale Mayor Jon Dunleavy took the time to talk to Patch this week to clear up some residents' concerns about the Avalon Bay luxury rental community development plan and its projected impact on the community. The mayor said that the amount of additional students being brought into the borough’s school system as a result of the project would be minimal, and that the borough is more than equipped to handle the costs associated with these additional students. “The projected number of students is less than 10,” Dunleavy said. “The project results in $800,000 in taxes, so there is sufficient funding to fund education.” However, not all members of the Borough Council are entirely on-board with the plan. Councilwoman Linda Shortman warned …
Monday, March 26, 2012
Housing development expected to break ground in June.
Bloomingdale’s Avalon Bay luxury rental community development plan should be ready to break ground on construction by the beginning of June, according to Mayor Jon Dunleavy. The project, a court-ordered development, was adopted by the Bloomingdale Planning Board and has been in the development stages since April of last year. “The first court filing under a builder’s remedy lawsuit was July 2009,” Dunleavy said. “The court released the approval, which was adopted by our planning board in April 2011.” Dunleavy expects that the residential complex will be a source of revenue for the borough in the near future. The mayor estimated that the project would bring in approximately $2.3 million. “The town will realize $1,100,000 in one-time utility…
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
Auditor, councilman disagree on budget shortfall figures.
The Bloomingdale Council majority voted to re-appoint Borough Auditor Dieter Lerch for another year after both he and Councilman Ray Yazdi respectively presented different figures on what they project the borough's budget shortfalls heading into the 2012 budget year to be. Lerch's firm's (Lerch, Vinci and Higgins) proposal to the borough was $5,000 more than the proposal of two other firms that submitted them, totaling $33,000 after he reduced the price from $35,000. Lerch was present when the council discussed his appointment before voting on him and, after being accused of being pressured by the council majority when assisting with the budget process last year by Mayor Jon Dunleavy, Lerch adamently denied that he would be politically …
Ann
1:19 pm on Thursday, October 25, 2012
That's it in a nutshell. If you want more Huntley, then go for Pituch. You'll be very happy. But your town will stay the same while all around us improve. Whether you like someone's personality or not, belong to one party or not, think someone is a clown or not, aren't you still mostly concerned with your town? How about the value of your home? Take a look around you at other towns. Then vote … more ›