Tusten wins a Gurdjieff round

County vows to appeal lawsuit

By FRITZ MAYER

NARROWSBURG, NY — The latest victory in the ongoing dispute between Tusten and Sullivan County goes to Tusten. On February 27, a judge dismissed an Article 78 proceeding against the town, which said that Tusten had acted improperly with regard to the Gurdjieff Foundation.

Sullivan County had charged that Tusten did not have the authority to enter into an agreement with Gurdjieff, to accept $10,000 per year to pay for services the town provides. As a non-profit organization, Gurdjieff’s 160-acre retreat center in Beaver Brook, formerly Camp Wel-Met, is tax exempt.

Sullivan County, and specifically county treasurer Ira Cohen, had objected to the agreement because it did not include any payment for the county or the Sullivan West school district. Both would get a share of taxes if Gurdjieff were on the tax roles.

In the Article 78 proceeding, which was filed last summer, the county charged that the town granted the tax exemption in return for the payment. Tusten supervisor Ben Johnson said that the foundation’s exemption came from state law, not from the town. The payment, he said, was negotiated with the foundation and the county and the Sullivan West school district, which joined the county in the Article 78 proceeding in September 2008. Both had the opportunity, had they been so inclined, to approach the foundation to negotiate payments separate from the town.

After the case was dismissed, Johnson said he was satisfied that the town had made a correct decision, but he was disappointed in the actions of the county. He said, “This was not a good-natured attempt by the county of trying to work with the town.”

For his part, Cohen released a statement that said, “I don’t agree with this decision that enables the Gurdjieff Foundation to retain its tax-exempt status in the Town of Tusten. The court failed to address several important issues, and permitted the foundation to acquire tax-exempt status from the town in exchange for a meager annual donation that fails to compensate the county and the school district.”

Cohen said the county will appeal the case to the appellate division.

The two sides have differed over the matter for nearly two years. In 2007, Cohen looked into the foundation and came to the conclusion that it did not legitimately deserve to have a tax-exempt status in New York State.

Cohen brought his concerns to the town board and urged it to change the foundation’s tax status. After reviewing the matter, Johnson concluded that changing the tax status might well result in a court battle with Gurdjieff, and one, in his opinion, that the town would lose.

Without a solid guarantee from the county of financial support to pay for a lawsuit should one develop, the town decided not to challenge the foundation’s tax status.

Tax-exempt organizations, however, remain a focus of concern for Cohen. He wrote, “This decision will not deter us from continuing to actively seek out and litigate against property owners who take unfair advantage of the true intent of the law by trying to obtain unwarranted tax exemptions.”

Johnson, on the other hand, said the matter of tax exemptions should be addressed not through litigation but rather by lawmakers in Albany who should change the relevant laws.