Westchester County Business Journal 9/17/2012 Issue

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WCBJ

WESTCHESTER COUNTY

BUSINESS JOURNAL

YOUR only SOURCE FOR regional BUSINESS NEWS | westfaironline.com

September 17, 2012 | VOL. 48, No. 38

Bob Rozycki

Flight from taxes

Airport FBO seeks exemption BY JOHN GOLDEN jgolden@westfairinc.com

A

flight support service company is asking a state court to declare its leased facilities at Westchester County Airport exempt from property taxes, raising alarm and a united legal defense from school district, local government and county officials who collectively stand to lose millions of dollars in tax refunds and future revenue. Some officials worry that other airport tenants could follow with similar court petitions seeking tax-exempt status for their operations on county-owned property. A fixed-base operator at the county airport since 2006, Signature Flight Support Corp. last year filed its petition in state Supreme

$100 million makeover • 2 North Castle Supervisor Howard Arden, left, and ASQ L.L.C. minority partner Dominic Dioguardi stand before the frame of one of three buildings comprising Armonk Square.

Flight from taxes, page 6

Unfunded retiree health benefit liabilities near $250B statewide BY PATRICK GALLAGHER pgallagher@westfairinc.com

While municipalities have decried the rising costs of Medicaid, pension benefits and other unfunded mandates, a new report raises alarm over unfunded retiree health care liabilities it estimates at nearly $250 billion statewide. State and local government employers in

Westchester alone are responsible for billions of dollars in health care benefits for retirees, according to the report “Iceberg Ahead,” released by the Empire Center for New York State Policy. Private sector employers rarely offer retiree health insurance, but it’s among the fastest-growing areas of public-sector employee compensation, the report states, accounting for nearly 40 percent of annual employee

health benefit costs at the state level. E.J. McMahon, senior fellow of the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, which runs the Empire Center, wrote in his report that while “a few elected officials around the state have tried to get a grip on the problem,” the majority of them “are steaming full-speed ahead on a collision course with financial reality.” Among local government employers

Brynwood developers return • 4

in Westchester, the county government is responsible for unfunded retiree health care benefits of more than $2.3 billion. The city of Yonkers has liabilities of nearly $700 million, the city of White Plains has liabilities of more than $254 million, the city of New Rochelle has liabilities of nearly $190 million, and the city of Mount Vernon has liabilities of more than $98 million, according to the report. Retiree health benefits, page 6

pinterest as business tool • 17


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