Town OKs tax deal for Rushton Place

CANTON — The town has ratified a memorandum of interpretation on a payment-in-lieu-of-taxes agreement for Rushton Place.

Village representatives were at a meeting with the town and the St. Lawrence County Industrial Development Agency, where details were worked out, and are on board, town Supervisor David T. Button said.

The PILOT was approved last fall, but questions about its meaning came up recently.

The PILOT called for Rushton Place to make a payment for the first five years based on an assessed value of $212,000, then make a payment based on half of the 100 percent assessed value of approximately $1.5 million over the final five years of the agreement.

Under the memorandum, the owners of condominiums that are sold will pay their own taxes. The owners of Rushton Place will pay the taxes on leased condominiums. The $212,000 payment will be reduced proportionately as the condominiums are sold or leased.

Canton Central School also must sign on to the deal for it to take effect, but hasn't received any paperwork yet.

"We've heard they want some revisions," Business Manager Judy A. Reinbeck said. "We haven't seen any type of change yet."

The Town Council also recently approved a $75,000 payment to Rushton Place for its February expenses.

The payment was part of an agreement reached last August for the town to reimburse developers John J. Gray Jr. and Richard E. Maginn 50 percent of their eligible expenses on a monthly basis in advance of the town's receiving a $1.2 million Restore New York grant.

The town's initial billing to the state has been approved and payment is expected shortly from the comptroller's office, Mr. Button said.