A PILOT program has been discussed and quickly pushed under the table several times. Perhaps a lawsuit directed at Valley would do the trick?
I am not anti-Valley (I prefer a modified, reasonable expansion, including locations on Rte 17NS). I believe Valley is an important part of our community. But I have never quite understood how they can be classified as a non-profit. To be fair, I think to expect them to pay +$4mio in taxes is aggressive. But clearly they are a consumer of Village services? Clearly “we” subsidize their activities through our own taxes. So there must be a compromise somewhere, i.e. the PILOT program.
I don’t like the idea of another lawsuit. It’s not productive. But the fact that Valley is suing the Village absolutely dips into our pockets, as the VOR has to pay legal fees. So where does it end? Regardless of where you stand on the Valley Expansion, I think it is reasonable to expect Valley to pay its fair share for the use of Village services.
You betcha. Council needs to get cracking on this, preferably before Miss Snit leaves next spring.
Why the Council hasn’t been protecting Village taxpayers is just stunning in the failure to uphold their fiduciary responsibility. Now they have a court ruling that establishes CLEAR precedent to go after Valley’s not-for-profit tax status and force them to pay the +$4.3 million they should be paying annually based on assessed value of their properties in Ridgewood, and yet they’d rather argue about an HR hiring and a parking garage that should be paid for in a public private partnership with the business owners in the CBD. Wake up and go after Valley, and stop pandering to biz owners. Taxpayers deserve your immediate attention to these issues, which can bring in millions in new revenue. Otherwise they’re not doing their job to protect the interests of tax paying Villagers.
I think they should be taxed. PILOT fees are just glorified bribes.
Those of you that complain why not put the same amount of effort to change the law.
Not really sure how the PILOT fee idea works. However, since Ridgewood does have lawyers on retainer, why not find out what has to be done going forward ? What are the options ? This town has left an awful lot of money on the table as a result of some very arrogant and greedy people taking advantage of a business model that in this day and age defies logic. Instead of tax money going to help support the town they are doing business in, they are paying ridiculous salaries to the people running it. And are taxes keep going up ! Duh !
The Morristown case is a clear precedent for Valley, USE IT
3:09, Morristown just put in the effort for us, all you need to do is cut & paste and change the name of the defendant from “Morristown” to “Valley”. The Morristown ruling establishes clear precedent, it’s a lay-up tailor made for Ridgewood vs. Valley. They pay their supposedly “not-for-profit” CEO $2 mm a year but pay no Village taxes. But our Council has a bunch of people trying to start knife fights while our house is on fire. Very, very damning of the current five.
5:20 and 12:55 are exactly correct, go after them for taxes.
3:09 – Change the law? When 2 of the 3 Council majority members are publicly pro-Valley? Where the 3 council bosom buddies always vote in a block (hmm, how do they do that without meeting illegally?)? When the Council majority doesn’t even allow discussion on an issue if they already have the votes to get their way?
Valley is not only going to continue to get a free pass from this Council – wait until they cut a deal on the Valley lawsuit that lets them double in size and still pay no taxes. We are going to be paying for the damage these 3 Council members have done for a generation.
Just send them a bill for back taxes and see how they respond.
If the only reason we’re not going after Valley’s “not for profit” status is because Albert and Gwen have a problem with that, then they need to resign. $4mn+ in potential property tax revenues and you just leave it in the table? What the hell is wrong with you, you’re not above 10% of the annual Village budget. If you cannot do it, for goodness sake step aside instead of being such narcissistic jerks. The Village needs better governance. Even Rurik understands this.