Attendees: Darla Hamlin, Thaddeus Day, Leslie and Rob Taisey, Scott Kerr and Guest Alex Carr, Chair NY Board of Selectmen
Guest Speaker: Shana Cook Mueller, Bernstein Shur – Shareholder and Attorney
Meeting was called to order by President, Darla Hamlin, at 7:15 AM
Thaddeus Day introduced speaker Shana Cook Mueller. Shana is in the Municipal and Governmental Services Practice Group. She has expertise in tax incremental financing ( TIF ), economic development, and public finance. She has one of the most active TIF practices in the State, rountinely representing municipalities through the entire process of establishing TIF districts and Affordable Housing TIF districts.
Tax increment financing is a tool used by towns to leverage new property taxes generated by specific projects within a defined geographic area. Any portion of the new taxes may be used to finance public or private projects for a defined period up to 30 years. The programs are locally driven; the municipality, town or city defines the district and discloses how much of the new taxes will go to what projects over what period of time. The whole package requires local political approval.
A business may approach a town with a proposal for investment for which a TIF district would provide financing. Or, a town might take advantage of an already planned and financed project and create a TIF district around it, capturing a portion of new property tax revenue for specific uses. Local tax revenues generated by the new TIF district are: 1. dedicated to a specific project or economic development fund, 2. are not counted toward the municipality’s total value. this will affect SAD assessments and county taxes. Since the revenue is not counted toward total revenue, it means the State formulas for revenue sharing will calculate a larger amount to share with the town because the town is perceived as less wealthy. For the TIF to be viable, the town should think growth and economic development is a positive thing. Economic development should drive the TIF.
Acceptance of 3/10/2016 minutes postponed.
Treasurer Report: Account balance of $2,243.18 Trade show profit was $607.01.
Old Business: Leslie will proceed to move the banking account to TD Bank
Trade Show Recap: Consensus is that the Trade Show was very well run, but the number of attendees disappointing. The planning committee needs feedback in order to make improvements for next year.
Website: Darla will make one last try to get the remainder of members to identify their listings.
Dues: Leslie will mail dues invoices by 4/22/16.
New Business: Thaddeus Day reported the review will be completed and bylaw changes circulated by the May annual meeting. He will check to see how far in advance they need to be distributed in order to vote on bylaw changes.
Officers Darla, Leslie and Marilyn have agreed to serve another term. We are looking for a Vice President. Also looking for a volunteer to serve as director of membership. That would allow us to focus on recruiting new members..
Meeting adjourned 8:50 am.
Next Meetings: Social Hour, 4/21, 5:30 pm, Toddy Brook;Business Meeting, 5/12, 7:30 AM, Stones Café Annual Meeting 5:30 pm Toddy Brook.
Respectfully submitted by: Leslie Taisey