Schools

Pearl River Schools Approve Orangeburg Data Center Deal

Pearl River School District Director of Operations Quinton Van Wynen recommended the district agree to a 12-year PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) deal with Russo development for the land at 155 Corporate Drive in Orangeburg at Tuesday's board of education meeting.
Bloomberg L.P. confirmed last week that it is seeking local financial assistance to open a 133,000 square foot data center and seeking a sales tax break from the Rockland County Industrial Development Agency. Russo Development negotiate the PILOT deal with Pearl River Schools, the Town of Orangetown and the Rockland IDA.
The Orangetown Town Board passed a resolution May 14 authorizing Supervisor Andy Stewart to to sign the PILOT agreement and the school board needed to sign on to move the project forward. The agreement would take effect as soon as the property is completed, which is expected to be in time for the 2014-15 school year. 
The property would be assessed at 50 percent for tax purposes the first three years of the agreement, then the adjustment drops by five percent the remaining eight years of the deal. Van Wynen's recommendation and a memo from Orangetown Assessor Brian Kenney can be found here
"It's a little longer than a regular PILOT, but we feel it is a great boost to the town of Orangetown," Van Wynen said. "The building will be assessed at $5.8 million based on an $11 million construction value. The current assessment of the property is only $585,000.
"We anticipate in the first year it will bring in $250,000 in taxes. It will be a plus on our non-homestead tax collections beginning hopefully in 2014-15."
The property tax payment on the property would rise to over $581,000 by the 2025. 


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here