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Judge: Mineola should not have taxed MTA
This former MTA transit building at 250 Old Country Rd. is the
object of a dispute over taxes between the MTA and Mineola Village.
(Nov. 13, 2013) (Credit: Newsday / Alejandra Villa)
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The decision, dated Feb. 14, strikes a blow to the village, which had in 2012 placed a nearly $490,000 lien on the now-demolished property.
The transit agency argued that the state's public authorities law exempts it from property taxes; but village officials said the property at 250 Old Country Rd. was not used for operational purposes and should not be exempt.
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Nassau County Supreme Court Judge Karen V. Murphy wrote in her five-page decision the MTA deserved a "judgment annulling and setting aside the disputed assessments as erroneous and void in light of the plainly applicable" public authorities law, which exempts public agencies from property taxes.
Mineola Mayor Scott Strauss, in an email, criticized the public authorities law. "We fully appreciate the need to exempt property used for transportation purposes. But not a single square foot of the building in question was used for those purposes. The MTA was simply a landlord for lawyers and other office uses," Strauss wrote. "If it turns out that exemption of property not related to transportation is the law, then it's a bad law."
Village Attorney John Spellman said he did not know whether the village would appeal.
The ruling, MTA spokesman Salvatore Arena said, "states clearly that the village's tax assessment is in violation of the MTA's tax exemption and is without legal merit."
The MTA had argued, according to court papers, that the agency is "wholly exempt from taxation even if some or all of that property is leased by the MTA to others." MTA officials said in court papers that though the agency "had considered using some of the office space for its own employees, it did not."
The use, MTA officials said, was confined to "several tenants [who] continued occupying some of the office space under existing leases for some time, but it is now vacated (save for three telecommunications antenna leases)."
The decision indicated that in 2012, the MTA discovered that a tax lien of $482,853.93 had arisen from unpaid village assessments. The agency placed $740,806.68 in escrow, village attorney John Spellman said.
The site was sold last year to a developer, and the building has been demolished. An $85 million development for rental apartments is planned.
Racing, Pari-Mutuel Wagering and Breeding Law
§ 109. Supplementary regulatory powers of the commission. Notwithstanding any inconsistent provision of law, the commission through its rules and regulations or in allotting dates for racing, simulcasting or in licensing race meetings at which pari-mutuel betting is permitted shall be authorized to: 1. permit racing at which pari-mutuel betting is conducted on any or all dates from the first day of January through the thirty-first day of December, inclusive of Sundays but exclusive of December twenty-fifth, Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday; and 2. fix minimum and maximum charges for admission at any race meeting.
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LI Confidential > Stop
scratching on holidays
Stop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
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