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Public commenter urges Valley Central to sue over tax break given to Hawkins Drive apartments
Summary
A community member told the school board the town and assessor improperly assigned tax code 48660 to a new Hawkins Drive apartment project, potentially depriving the district of roughly $168,000 in annual tax revenue, and asked the board to pursue Article 78 legal action.
Robert Saladin addressed the board during public comment and asked the district to consider legal action after reviewing tax records for a recently completed apartment complex on Hawkins Drive.
Saladin said the assessor assigned the property a New York tax code used for Housing Development Fund Corporations (486‑a/486‑60 designation cited in his remarks), which he argued is intended for low‑income housing cooperatives and not market‑rate rental properties. He estimated the exemption reduced the property’s assessed value by several million dollars and cited a projected loss to the district of roughly $168,000 in school tax revenue for the coming year if the assessment remains in place.
He urged the board to meet with the district attorney and the superintendent and offered to present the documents he has reviewed. Saladin asked the board to explore filing an Article 78 challenge to the town’s actions so the district could recover tax revenue he alleged was improperly withheld by the assessment decision.
Board members listened but did not take immediate action; administration did not present a legal analysis at the meeting. The comment focused on the allegation, requested a meeting with the board’s attorney, and asked the board to evaluate the legal options on behalf of the district.
