Kingston board reinstates PILOT billing for Gideon Lodge, sets biannual invoices

The Kingston Select Board voted unanimously April 14 to authorize the finance director to bill Gideon Lodge for a payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) based on the reassessed 2024 value, split into two bills per year starting in June 2025.

Gideon Lodge representative John Pava told the board he understood the town’s position but said lodge members wanted records of how the original payment had been used prior to 1992 and asked whether the 1992 warrant article specified uses such as lifeguards or portable toilets. Chair Glenn Koppelman and other board members said the 1992 warrant article authorized a PILOT in exchange for an easement to Greenwood Pond but, as presented to the board at the meeting, did not specify line-item uses. Koppelman said the board would not seek back payments prior to the reinstatement and would revisit the PILOT every five years on the assessor’s recommendation.

The board and lodge representatives discussed practicalities: the new annual amount set after reassessment was $2,236 (the town’s current-day valuation of the original $1,000 figure), to be invoiced in two installments like property taxes. The board agreed administratively to forgive a single prior administrative year (2024) and begin billing for 2025. The board also urged Gideon Lodge to pursue 501(c)(3) status to resolve future tax-exempt questions and offered assistance connecting lodge trustees with town resources.

Koppelman emphasized that the board’s action was not punitive and acknowledged the lodge’s community services and donations. The motion authorizing biannual invoices was moved, seconded and approved unanimously by the four members present.