Ulster County IDA outlines how incentives, monitoring and clawbacks work as it eyes a revolving loan fund

Hillary Nichols, executive director of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and the Ulster County Capital Resource Corporation (CRC), gave a detailed briefing to the Economic Development Committee on the agency’s authorities and oversight role.

Nichols told the committee the IDA can abate sales and use tax on construction, mortgage recording tax and enter into payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements for new capital improvements, and that both the IDA and the CRC can issue tax-exempt and taxable bonds. "We do not lend any money," Nichols said. "We are just issuers of bonds. We don't give out money." She added that the IDA cannot abate special district taxes or land taxes and cannot waive taxes due prior to improvements.

Nichols outlined prerequisites for applicants, including a standard application under the New York State General Municipal Law, a demonstrated public purpose and a "but for" test showing the project would not proceed without IDA assistance. Projects seeking more than $100,000 in incentives must go to public hearing and undergo a third-party cost-benefit analysis; Nichols said the agency uses MRB Group software for many routine analyses and hires outside vendors for larger commercial-findings reviews.

She described compliance and enforcement practices the IDA employs after approvals: monitoring insurance and local-hire commitments during construction, requiring two site visits per project by board members, annual reporting on job creation and pilot payments, and a clawback mechanism that can recover incentives plus penalties and interest if projects fail to meet commitments. "If a project does not follow through with what they say they're gonna follow through, we can claw back," Nichols said.

Nichols provided high-level 2025-to-2026 figures the board has been tracking: if all approved projects progressed to construction, the incentives would support approximately 175 permanent jobs, 375 construction jobs, about $177,000,000 in private-sector investment and an estimated $12,400,000 in new real property tax over the life of PILOTs. She described ongoing governance work to refine the Uniform Tax Exempt Policy (UTEP) and said the board is pursuing continuous-improvement updates to policies and processes.

Nichols also noted CRC plans to establish a low-cost revolving bridge loan fund to provide interim financing for nonprofits and other local projects that receive reimbursement-style grants, saying administrative fee revenue from projects will seed that program.

What’s next: The committee’s Q&A covered board cadence (monthly meetings, standing committees), recent UTEP review (public hearing and board approval in late 2024) and the use and typical cost of third-party cost-benefit studies. Committee members signaled interest in continued oversight of housing and commercial projects that come before the IDA.