Lawmakers Reach Agreement on Brownfields
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ALBANY — Companies that agree to cleanup and reuse polluted sites in New York will still get a break in their taxes, but property owners won’t under several last-minute agreements struck on yesterday’s last scheduled day of the 2008 legislative session.
Lawmakers agreed to revise the state’s brownfield program to clean up and redevelop commercial sites. But several proposals have eluded a late agreement. Among them is Governor Paterson’s call for a 4% cap on local property taxes, most of them school taxes.
Legislative leaders have sided with the state’s powerful teachers unions and other public unions that have opposed the cap, saying school districts would suffer. Officials also failed to agree on proposals to reduce fuel costs, end a practice by sex predator teachers used against students, and government reforms.
Mr. Paterson argues New York has the highest property taxes in the nation and the state needs to force school districts to make hard decisions. Mr. Paterson said lawmakers will continue to work on the proposal, but he doubted a change could be made this session.
On brownfield legislation, Mr. Paterson said companies will get tax credits covering half the cost of cleaning a site to the point it can be redeveloped. The current reimbursement is 22% based on the value of a project.
The measure — intended to protect the environment while attracting more jobs — has eluded agreement for years.
While the plan was to help the environment and stimulate the upstate economy, many tax breaks were going to lucrative hotel developments in Manhattan and Westchester rather than replacing crumbling factories with affordable housing in upstate cities.
Lawmakers and Mr. Paterson also agreed to give patients more information about their physicians and strengthen state oversight of doctors. The bill will allow the Office of Professional Medical Conduct to review more information about the doctors they investigate, including malpractice claims, criminal sentences and drug or alcohol abuse.
Lawmakers also agreed to give parents and guardians more information on the care of their disabled children and more clearly define abuse for those in residential care.
They also agreed to provide some mental health records of applicants for federal firearms licenses not previously allowed. The data will include whether an applicant ever received residential mental health care.
The leaders also approved an aid package for a planned $1 billion resort in the Catskills with gambling, golf, and a spa that advocates say will revitalize the area.
About 2,000 permanent jobs are expected to be created, the Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, said.
Westchester County developer Louis Cappelli wants to build a large resort on the site of the Borscht Belt’s old Concord Hotel that would include the video lottery terminals and harness track now located at the nearby Monticello Raceway. But Mr. Cappelli claims he needs to keep a larger share of lottery terminal revenues to make the project viable.