Dear fellow residents of Ansonia,
Typically, the letters that I publish are directed more towards the administration and what they can do to ensure that every resident of the City of Ansonia, a place I’ve proudly called home for my entire lifetime, is properly informed and that deals and decisions are made in their best interests. After seeing what took place at last night’s public hearing, I feel that it is a waste of my time to continue attempting to address the Cassetti administration and that it is more beneficial for me to address the residents directly.
For those of you who are not up to speed on what occurred, to make things brief, after years of having the Olson Drive property (the former Riverside Apartments, 10.49 acres of land) valued at around $2 million, an undated letter was submitted to the board “correcting” the land value at a measly $350 thousand. Along with this, the entire board voted in favor of a tax incentive agreement that won’t see any generated tax revenues on this land for the first three years, and it slowly increases every year after.
My fellow residents, I ask this question out of pure interest. How many of you have seen your taxes go up in the city? How many of you have homes or businesses here in the city that are on much less acreage but are valued around the same as this 10.49-acre property? Something doesn’t add up.
What is more troubling with this entire deal is the fact that the tax incentive program that Team Cassetti unanimously approved last night didn’t take into account a key factor: the demolition of the Riverside Apartments. If the aldermen were to just look at the packets in front of them, they would clearly see that we are still paying over $280 thousand dollars annually for the demolition of the Riverside Apartments. It should be noted that this bond doesn’t mature until 2033, meaning Ansonia taxpayers are footing the bill for another decade while a for-profit company gets our land for pennies on the dollar. Ansonia taxpayers will be paying, at best, $160 thousand a year to keep this development open. This deal was bad for taxpayers from the start, and the new agreement has only made it a much worse deal for every resident that lives in this city.
As egregious and irresponsible as this is, what I find to be the most insulting thing about this deal is the city’s lack of due diligence in getting this property properly assessed. In 2015, just 6.55 acres of this land had a fair market value of $1.3 million. This information was provided by an independent firm. What made the value of this property drop to less than 35% of its original value when city officials revised the assessment?
I understand the need for incentives for development; however, with this deal, the Cassetti administration has just set a dangerous precedent. Now, every developer who wants to do business in the city will be looking for the same sweetheart deal. This is unsustainable, irresponsible, and is in complete disregard for every resident in our city. At what point does this administration live by its motto of “putting taxpayers first”?
Brian Perkins
ANSONIA
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