West 081213

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YOUR ONLY SOURCE FOR REGIONAL BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com

August 12, 2013 | VOL. 49, No. 32

INSIDE

DEALS AND DEEDS • 8

SPECIAL REPORT: ACCOUNTING • 13

NEWS NOON @

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Pat Acocella and Diane Tenaglia

50 yeArs oF gAzebos And pies Family-run Acorn hits milestone

BY cRYStAL KANG ckang@westfairinc.com

O

n a recent Saturday morning, a Westchester County couple walked into Acorn Farm and Garden Center in Harrison to satisfy their sweet tooth. After chomping down on a freshly baked sugar-raised

donut, Robert Yamuder looked up with a grin. “We were driving by and sold by the donut sign outside,” Yamuder, the village administrator in Pelham, said. “We bought every kind of donut they have here – sugar, cinnamon and plain. This place has a nice down-to-earth feel.” Acorn sits on a stretch of Mamaroneck Avenue surrounded by corporate office parks. Its unique setup, not to mention stock of gazebos and storage

sheds, often gets a double take from the passengers of the 60,000 cars that drive by on the thoroughfare each day. The size of the storefront is deceivingly small, but Acorn serves as a rest stop for many locals and out-of-towners. It’s run by three generations of a Westchester County-bred family. Behind the counter on that recent Saturday sat Acorn, page 6

Hotel tax falls flat again

Communities see process as inequitable BY MARK LUNGARIELLO mlungariello@westfairinc.com

HARRiSoN ToWN SuPERViSoR Ronald Belmont wasn’t surprised when his town’s bid to impose a hotel occupancy tax died a quiet death in the state Senate chambers. The town had asked for authority to charge a 3 percent tax on hotel visitors four times since 2007 and each time the proposal went nowhere. This year, a bill granting the Harrison hotel tax made it through the state Assembly, but was never voted on by the Senate. Harrison has been rejected so often, Belmont said, that asking for state approval has become mostly a ceremonial

process. The town will request the tax again a sixth time in 2013. “It gets a lot easier now,” he said. “All you have to do is change the date on the paperwork.” The hotel tax has been a mouthwatering option for revenue-hungry local governments, which see the potential of adding a non-property tax revenue line that is charged not to residents, but to outsiders visiting their communities. The amount of the tax has also been touted as being relatively small for those who use the hotels while adding up to big bucks for the communities. Harrison has three properties that would be taxed if a law were to pass: dwellings at Westchester Hotel, page 6

AMALGAM BUILDER • 2


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