DRI Projects Are Safe Regardless of Kingstonian PILOT approval
Developers Arm-Twist School Board and Others to Vote for $30 Million Tax Break
Sept. 9, 2020
Kingston, N.Y. – In France, people poke fun at marchands de cravates, or tie merchants. In the United States, car salesmen at one time were the object of derision for their lack of ethics. Now, the tall tales crown must pass to real estate developers, or at least Joseph Bonura, who has publicly threatened that the entire $10 million DRI grant will “go away” if he doesn’t get his $30 million tax break to build the Kingstonian luxury housing development plus air-conditioned garage.
The threat was debunked by the directors at two Regional Economic Development Councils and two officials at New York’s Department of State, agencies that administer and oversee the Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) grants.
In 2018, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo awarded Kingston a $10 million DRI grant, of which $3.8 million was slated for the Kingstonian luxury housing development, with the remaining $6.2 million to be divided among other projects.
The developer may have made the claim in order to send a veiled threat to other recipients of the DRI grant money that their projects would be canceled if he failed to secure his $30 million tax break. For example, Dietz Stadium, which received a hefty portion of the DRI grant, is owned by the Kingston School District, which also happens to be a taxing jurisdiction whose approval is required for the $30 million payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) tax break. Other recipients of the DRI grant such as Friends of Historic Kingston and RUPCO have refrained from public comment.
On Friday, the director of one Regional Economic Development Council who asked to remain anonymous confirmed that if a project is cancelled, that money can be re-allocated. The director also denied that a change in one project jeopardizes the others.
And on Tuesday, a second REDC director from another district confirmed the colleague’s account. Then, in separate phone calls from two separate offices in the New York Department of State, two officials confirmed that the other projects were safe. “That’s not how it works,” replied one official when asked if the other projects would lose their funding if one was cancelled. “Why would you listen to a developer,” laughed the director at the other REDC.
All four officials asked to remain anonymous, but one official at the NY DoS promised to provide an official statement to be used for attribution.
The following statement was sent by email Wednesday: “Governor Cuomo’s Downtown Revitalization Initiative (DRI) is transforming downtown neighborhoods into vibrant communities. The DRI Round IV Guidebook and Frequently Asked Questions describe the process including “What happens to DRI funds if a project does not move forward?”
“As with most grant programs, there may be unspent funds that need to be reallocated if a grantee declines an award, is unable to undertake a project, or completes the project under budget. Funds that are unspent by a grantee will be repurposed to one or more projects included in the DRI Strategic Investment Plan for the community for which the funds were intended consistent with program rules”.
“For more information on the DRI program you can log on to: https://www.ny.gov/sites/ny.gov/files/atoms/files/DRI_Four_Guidebook.pdf or visit the FAQs at https://www.ny.gov/downtown-revitalization-initiative/round-four-dri-frequently-asked-questions).”
Watch Bonura claim the DRI money “goes away” at his presentation on July 8, in this recording of his presentation to the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency at 1:46:58 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n7ZpSh2s2bw&feature=emb_err_woyt
So, shoutout to the other grant recipients: Your projects will go forward, even if you vote or speak out against the $30 million welfare-for-millionaires tax break.
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