The Schenectady County Capital Resource Corporation was approved during a July 6 committee meeting of the Schenectady County Legislature, allowing industrial development agencies within the county to once again issue tax-exempt bonds.
IDAs throughout the county haven’t been able to issue bonds since the State Legislature allowed that authorization to expire in 2009.
In order to issue tax-exempt bonds a county developmental corporation needed to be established. There is no cost to the county to set up the group and the County IDA would run the group. These bonds typically help non-for-profit groups issue bonds, get debt and issue debt.
Projects funded by IDAs are an important economic tool to help increase employment opportunities and have assisted county hospitals and universities in upgrading facilities at low costs.
County officials decided to move ahead with the Capital Resource Corporation under the New York State Not-For-Profit Corporation Law because it was unclear when state lawmakers would pass an extender.
In discussions leading up to the vote, Minority Leader Robert Farley, R-Glenville, said one reason for not moving forward with this plan is much of the debt is tax exempt.
“In Schenectady County we already have an organization setup to do this, which is Metroplex,” said Farley, who ultimately joined lawmakers in their unanimous approval of the corporation.
Ray Gillen, commissioner of economic development and planning, said Metroplex would prefer to stay in the private sector and not branch out to non-for-profit business. There is a $75 million cap on the amount of bonds Metroplex can issue, so Gillen was concerned with using the allotted amount too fast. Gillen said projects such as the General Electric Storage Battery Plant are what Metroplex would like to focus on.
Farley said he wished the cap for Metroplex were at $100 million, a proposal that was changed before the final agreement.
“Are hands are tied on what otherwise would be worthwhile projects because they create jobs,” said Gillen during an interview. “Private sector investments create jobs and tax base, but we don’t want to use [Metroplex] for nonprofit.”
One of the projects being discussed is Rotterdam redeveloping of the closed Draper School and creating housing for disabled veterans. There have not yet been detailed discussions on the project.
“We need some kind of entity here to allow us to do these kind of civic projects,” said Gillen.
So can someone please tell me exactly what the return on our dollar is if we issue tax exempt bonds? The taxpayers are already losingmoney through the plex. But wasn't it refreshing to read that the son Farley, who's father created the plex, would like to see the cap on the plex raised from $75M to $100M???
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
So can someone please tell me exactly what the return on our dollar is if we issue tax exempt bonds? The taxpayers are already losingmoney through the plex. But wasn't it refreshing to read that the son Farley, who's father created the plex, would like to see the cap on the plex raised from $75M to $100M???
Just a fyi, Metroplex is funded through 1/2 of 1% of the county sales tax. Of this amount, 70% is used to fund the Metroplex budget, and the remaining 30% comes back to each municipality in the county as a tax abatement. To date, over the past 10 yrs. since the Plex was established, T. of Rotterdam has received 10 million dollars, approximately 1 million per yr. The funds I believe are listed as sales revenue in the budget, however they are "blended" with other funds. Not sure if all the money makes it into the Town's coffers, or if some of it funds other line items or what . . . .
This story is a Spotlight special. A complete falsehood to state that Metrograft funds have never been used for nonprofits. The Bethesda Hose purchase for another useless parking lot and the Y come to mind. There are more.
Metrograft was created for 2 reasons to increase sales tax revenue in the County {total failure} and to stabilize property values in the City {total failure}. There was no job creation component. Sales tax is the most regressive tax since it impacts poor families the most. The last thing we need to do is increase our debt and throw more down this pit.
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This story is a Spotlight special. A complete falsehood to state that Metrograft funds have never been used for nonprofits. The Bethesda Hose purchase for another useless parking lot and the Y come to mind. There are more. 
