Would Are Your Thoughts About Tax Abatements?

According to an article on the Riverhead News-Review, Riverhead's Industrial Development Agency voted in favor of providing seven years of tax abatements to a developer looking to complete a bowling alley started years ago on Route 25.

Construction on the bowling alley, actually called Bowl 58 - as it sits near the intersection of Routes 25 and 58 - was started years ago, though halted after a previous owner was foreclosed on. The man whose company purchased the mortgage .

While Jeffrey Rimland said at the time that in order to get the project back up and running, the abatements - which were granted to the previous owner - would help secure financing.

The terms of the seven-year abatement call for 50 percent property tax breaks over the first three years, followed by five percent increases after that for the following four years.

Councilman Jim Wooten, at last month's meeting, said the following at last month's IDA meeting: "IDA benefits are important for businesses to come to Riverhead. And one of the biggest concerns I hear all too often is that there is nothing for the kids to do. Nothing. Ice skating rinks, cardboard boat races - those are nice family events. But there is no place to go."

However School Board President Ann Cotten-DeGrasse pleaded with the IDA Board, saying that with a two-percent tax levy cap on the way next school year, the abatements would further burden a school district that needs tax dollars.

What are your thoughts about tax abatements? Would you have voted for or against this proposal? Why?

To read the entire Riverhead News-Review article, click here.