TRR photo by David Hulse Supervisor John LiGreci, left, and Senator John Bonacic shared a podium last week. (Click for larger image)

Senator and supervisor bury the hatchet

No resolution for ECS tax levy shifts

By DAVID HULSE

GLEN SPEY — Money and good will have been known to rebuild all kinds of fences.

On July 3 Senator John Bonacic provided the money and Lumberland Supervisor John LiGreci provided the good will.

Bonacic was in Sullivan County announcing a series of new grants for Delaware Valley communities funded through the Catskill Reinvestment Act, which he primarily sponsored. The grants included $20,000 for repairs to the parking lot of the Lumberland Senior Center, and he spoke to and took questions from about 50 of its members, Tuesday afternoon.

Despite past differences, Lumberland Supervisor John LiGreci sat at the head table and came to the senator’s side when a question arose about recovering taxes from tax-exempt, not-for-profit properties in the town.

LiGreci has actively sought means to do this and became disenchanted with Bonacic and other state officials when they begged off from a meeting of officials LiGreci has been trying to organize since last year. He said Bonacic and the state were giving the town a run-around. Bonacic fired back, saying the supervisor was pandering to the home folks in an election year.

All that was forgotten last week. Noting that the town has “a concerned supervisor who’s been highlighting the problem,” Bonacic went on to report that Lumberland’s 21 percent of exempt properties ranked it only 34th among the 62 towns in his district.

He said the not-for-profits have become land banks who take advantage of the state’s liberal laws. While he anticipated correcting the problem would be expensive, he said he was considering state-wide hearings on the problem.

LiGreci seconded his fellow Republican’s remarks, saying it would be a battle to correct this and “we need to support [Bonacic]” in the effort.

On another tax issue, Bonacic said he was not optimistic about Eldred Central School’s second application for a certified tax district to include Highland and Lumberland and end equalization rate based, annual shifts in the school levy.

The Legislature froze the rates last year, to allow for state-local negotiations on disputed assessments of Southern Energy’s Mongaup hydroelectric facilities. “They’ve been trying to get closer together, but they’re still apart,” he said.

In all, Bonacic announced Tuesday that seven projects along the Delaware would receive a total of $157,500. The Catskill Reinvestment Act grants include: $50,000 for Callicoon, funding a senior center and community room; $25,000 to complete Callicoon, new sidewalks; $10,000 for Towns of Delaware pool improvements; $25,000 for a new elevator at the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance in Narrowsburg; $22,500 for a Port Jervis park and community center; and $5,000 for improvements at the Neversink Valley Area Museum.