Harvey Levinson, chairman of the Nassau County Department of Assessment, recently held a press conference questioning an agreement between the Town of Hempstead's Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the American Ref-Fuel waste facility located at Merchants Concourse in Westbury. According to Levinson, an intense review of exemption and PILOT agreements on file with the department uncovered that the Ref-Fuel facility has not paid property taxes since it became operational in 1985.

"One of my goals as the assessor is to ensure that each commercial property will pay its fair share of the property tax burden," stated Levinson. "While it is common for industrial development agencies to offer generous tax incentives or abatements to attract specific industries to the area, they are often limited and adjusted in increments to ensure that the incentives do not amount to overly generous taxpayer-funded give-a-ways."

Mike Deery, director of communications for the Town of Hempstead, said the Ref-Fuel plant would most likely not have been built if it weren't for the tax break incentives offered by the IDA. In addition, without the plant, "residents would have faced significantly higher solid waste disposal costs. The costs of shipping garbage off Long Island to be landfilled in other areas is prohibitive so this plant was crucial," said Deery, adding, "The plant was opened in the late 1980s, during a time of crisis. At this time, there was pressure to close landfills."

Town officials also state that the Ref-Fuel facility has benefited the community in numerous ways. Aside from closing the Oceanside and Merrick landfills - with the Merrick site converted into the Norman J. Levy Park and Preserve - Deery said the facility enables the town to dispose of solid waste in an environmentally responsible manner while at the same time producing electricity through the waste elimination process. Additionally, the town is "safeguarding the environment by not placing [the waste] in landfills and protecting our groundwater by not having solid waste landfills here," said Deery.

According to Levinson, the American Ref-Fuel waste-to-energy facility has a value in the hundreds of millions of dollars, making it one of the most valuable commercial properties in Nassau County. While the company had reported revenues totaling up to $100 million annually, Levinson alleges that homeowners in the Town of Hempstead are paying $46 million in property taxes to supplement the agreement.

The assessor stated that the Hempstead IDA is cooperating with his investigation and will be providing a copy of the 2,000 pages of the agreement with corresponding financial background information in the upcoming weeks.

"As I review the American Ref-Fuel and other PILOT agreements initiated throughout the county, I want to make sure that unreasonable tax incentives are not given to multi-million dollar corporations at the expense of families who struggle with some of the highest residential property taxes in the State of New York," said Levinson. "Clearly there are a number of questions that must be answered when looking at agreements of this magnitude [such as] who has or will be benefiting financially as a result of this arrangement and what is the financial benefit to the taxpayer for keeping this or any other facility off the assessment rolls?"

Levinson is also questioning why American Ref-Fuel warranted an unprecedented full property tax exemption to the facility for a 25-year period. In response, Deery stated that the length of the agreement was based on the scope of the project. "It was an enormously expensive proposition," he said, adding that similar exemptions have been granted to other municipalities in the area.

Although Levinson claims taxpayers are suffering as a result of the town's tax exemption agreement with Ref-Fuel, Deery said the exact opposite is actually the case. "Town of Hempstead taxpayers are actually benefiting financially as a result of the town's IDA agreement with Ref-Fuel," Deery said. "The financial benefits of being able to offer more cost effective solid waste disposal than would have been possible without the plant and the environmental benefits certainly justify the [tax break] incentives. For the assessor to put a price tag on the health of residents and the local environment is unfortunate."

Under the Hempstead IDA, American Ref-Fuel's full property tax exemption is currently set to expire on Dec. 31, 2009.