The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency canceled a vote this week on tax breaks for three Bristal assisted living facilities slated for Dec. 13.
The tax breaks for a Bristal facility in North Hills – one of the three covered by the proposal – could exceed $2 million and has drawn the opposition of Great Neck and Herricks school officials as well as county and town legislators concerned about the cost to local taxpayers.
Joseph Kearney, executive director of the county IDA, said the Dec. 13 meeting was cancelled to give the IDA board members a chance to review the 1,300-page record of the hearing in late November on a Bristal facility in Westbury. He said the discussion the Bristal is also not on the agenda for a Dec. 19 IDA meeting.
“It’s voluminous,” Kearney said of the transcript. “The board has to have the opportunity to review it.”
The county IDA was originally expected to vote on Dec. 3 on extending agreements on payments in lieu of taxes, commonly called PILOTs, requested by the Engel Burman Group for the Bristal facilities it manages in North Hills, Westbury and Massapequa. The tax benefits for the Bristal in North Hills could lower its tax obligation by more than $2 million over the 10-year extension of the PILOTs, officials say.
Kearney said the Engel Burman Group is requesting a 10-year extension of the agreement in the seventh year of its PILOT agreement on the North Hills property and the other facilities because it plans to purchase the facilities from a Canadian company. Kearney said the company wants to know what the “economic picture” of the facilities will be in the future.
“My understanding this is part of a transaction to acquire these properties,” Kearney said.
County officials and school district administrators have joined in criticizing extension of the PILOTs for the upscale Bristal in North Hills because the facility has no plans for expanding its physical plant or its staff – a basis used by the IDA in awarding tax breaks. The facility’s operators said it planned to operate with a staff of 81 employees, six less than currently employed.
Kearney said if the Bristal plans to lay people off, that’s something the IDA considers in evaluating the application for further tax relief.
He said it’s not unusual for an applicant to seek an extension of a PILOT while a PILOT agreement is already in place.
“An applicant can apply to us as they see fit for relief. But they can make a case for it,” he said.
Ellen Antonucci, a spokesperson for Ultimate Care New York, the division of Engel Burman that oversees the Bristal facilities, issued a statement on Tuesday about the PILOT application saying, “They are not tax breaks. We are only asking for the taxes to increase more slowly. The properties are already paying millions of dollars in taxes.”
A recent tour of the Bristal facility in North Hills revealed a large, well-appointed building equipped with a dining room, library, an outdoor pool and putting green and various common rooms for the use of its 165 residents. Fees range from $6,600 monthly for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom suite to $3995 monthly for a private room in a suite for two people sharing a common room. All living spaces are equipped with kitchenettes. The management promises its residents “three healthy gourmet meals per day.” Residents are offered different levels of care, depending on their needs.
Nassau County Legislator Judi Bosworth (D-Great Neck) is among the officials who don’t see the sense in granting the Bristal facilities further tax relief.
“It’s not adding to the economic engine. It’s an existing entity. This request for an extension baffles me,” Bosworth said.
She expressed concerned about the Bristal’s current application in North Hills, because the owners would be paying $2.1 million less in “real market value” in property taxes.
She also said she did not understand why her office was not notified by the IDA of its cancellation of the Dec. 13 meeting.
“Courtesy would have dictated that I be notified. But I was not,” she said.
Town Councilwoman Anna Kaplan (D-Great Neck) said, “They are not really changing their services and I don’t think the town or the county should forego any of the taxes due to them.”
Herricks Superintendent of Schools John Bierwirth, also a critic of the tax relief being sought by the Bristal, sent a letter to Kearney this week expressing his concern about the IDA’s second cancellation of a vote on the issue. Bierwirth said he didn’t understand why the IDA meetings were cancelled.
“Right now, we’re in the dark. It would be appropriate, considering the concerns that have been expressed, to tell us what they’re doing and set a date stating what they’re going to do with it,” Bierwirth said.
Bierwirth has 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.
