Officials bash Bristal tax break request

Richard Tedesco

Nassau County legislators and school board officials are calling for the county Industrial Development Agency to deny a request by an assisted living facility in North Hills to continue a reduction in taxes that could cost taxpayers more than $2 million.

The IDA postponed a vote on applications for tax relief from Bristal facilities in North Hills, Westbury and Massapequa until next Monday, officials said, in the face of strong public opposition at a hearing on the Westbury facility last week. 

Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) said she’s concerned about the Bristal’s current application in North Hills,  which would extend its current tax reduction agreement for 10 years, because the owners be paying $2.1 million less in “real market value” in property taxes.  

“My concern is that you need a balance. There’s got to be good reasons for this,” Bosworth said. “The Bristal is not expanding,” 

Both the Herricks and Great Neck School Districts would be adversely affected by additional tax breaks for the Bristal at North Hills since its location on the south Service Road of the Long Island Expressway near New Hyde Park Road straddles the line between those school districts. The Village of North Hills would also lose tax revenue.

The Bristal at North Hills first applied to the country IDA for payment in lieu of taxes, also known as a PILOT, in 2002 under an incentive typically offered new or expanding businesses. 

In a letter to county IDA Executive Director Joseph Kearney, lawyer Lawrence Tenenbaum, who represents the Herricks School District, noted that the Bristal at North Hills had the support of the community in 2002 because it was offering a new assisted living option to seniors in the area. 

In 2008, the IDA reduced PILOT payments on the property, and Tenenbaum said the community received “no additional benefits” at the time.

Bosworth said the North Hills facility currently maintains a staff of 87 employees and pledges to retain a staff of 81 employees in its PILOT application to the county IDA.

““If you grant a PILOT, it should be that you’re encouraging economic growth or adding jobs. They’re certainly not promising to add any jobs. So that benefit is illusory,” Bosworth said.

She said the Bristal is promising to make capital improvements, but said it would make capital improvements to maintain its North Hills facility with or without a PILOT.

Attempts to reach Ellen Attanucci, spokesperson for Ultimate Care New York LLC, which manages the Bristal facilities, were unavailing. Ultimate Care New York is listed on the Bristal’s Web site as a division of the Engel Berman Group, a Garden City partnership.

The Bristal’s Web site states that the facility offers different levels of care ranging from independent living to different levels of assistance as well as Alzheimers and dementia care. 

The independent living facilities are said to offer  “the high-end hospitality values of some of the world’s finest hotels,” with amenities including three healthy gourmet meals per day and cable TV. 

Winsome Bent, executive director the Bristal at North Hills, declined to discuss the fees the facility charges its residents or to reveal the number of residents living there.

John Bierwirth, Herricks Superintendent of Schools, said revenue lost through reduced PILOT payments would put pressure on taxpayers in the Herricks School District, which has cut 47 teaching positions over the past two years to control costs. Many of those taxpayers are senior citizens themselves.

“We’re scratching for every dollar we can find,” Bierwirth said. “I don’t see how anybody in this community owes them any favors, in the sense of lowering their payments.”

He said the Herricks and Great Neck School Districts would be equally disadvantaged by the loss of taxes and doesn’t see any sense in giving the Bristal additional breaks.

“There no development. There’s no new construction. There’s no new jobs,” Bierwirth said.

He said the Herricks district considered taking legal action in 2008 when the Bristal was granted its PILOT extension, but he said the school board didn’t think the cost of the legal fees would be a good way to spend taxpayer dollars.

In the absence of any compelling reason to grant the Bristal further tax relief, Nassau County Legislator Richard Nicolello said the IDA should deny the application.

“They’re a profit-making venture. They’re going to keep using money they earn to invest in their buildings. I don’t see them adding any jobs gratuitously. It just doesn’t make sense,” Nicolello said.

He added that providing the Bristal in North Hills the tax relief it’s seeking,  

“In general, these things are useful tools to attract a business. But to give a business a permanent tax break is ridiculous,” he said.

The IDA vote is scheduled to take place in the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building in Mineola on Dec. 3 in a meeting scheduled for 5:30 p.m.

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