Northport
– Officials from the Town of Huntington and the Northport-East Northport School
District were joined by officials from Suffolk County, Island Park Public
Schools, North Shore Central School District and over approximately 100
residents at the Northport Cow Harbor Soccer Field, with the Northport Power
Plant smoke stacks looming above in the fog, in the pouring rain to urge
Governor Andrew Cuomo to intervene and reign in LIPA, the runaway State agency,
whose lawsuits against the municipalities and school districts threaten the
very way of life for residents, taxpayers and students, and to warn all Long
Island communities that LIPA is coming for them next.
The
press conference exposed LIPA’s unbridled ambition to extend its financial
attack on all Long Island communities, over 100 school districts and thousands
of students, and urged Governor Andrew Cuomo to enact protections for the Town
of Huntington and communities across Long Island facing potentially
financially-devastating adverse judgments in LIPA/National Grid tax certiorari
challenge lawsuits.
Representing
the Town of Huntington were Supervisor Chad A. Lupinacci, Councilman
Mark Cuthbertson, Councilman Eugene Cook, Councilwoman Joan Cergol, and
Councilman Edmund J.M. Smyth, joined by Town Attorney Nicholas Ciappetta and
Receiver of Taxes Jillian Guthman.
Supervisor
Chad A. Lupinacci spoke on behalf of the Town Board, united in their fight to
protect the interests of taxpayers, residents and students across all of the
Town of Huntington:
“The
monstrous and unsightly power plant behind us sits in the middle of beautiful
waterfront Northport where it ruins the view for our residents and visitors. It
was decided decades ago that the residents of Northport and the Town of
Huntington would incur all of the negatives and drawbacks of a massive,
industrial power plant; like the one behind us, in exchange for the increase to
our tax base for the entire Town of Huntington and for the Northport-East
Northport School District. This tax revenue was accounted for and spent over
the past two decades to provide services to our residents and educate our
students.
“This
runaway State agency – a public utility with unlimited resources – has come
after the Town of Huntington and we are fighting back with everything we have.
LIPA refuses to negotiate. They have also engaged in a public disinformation
campaign and spent the public’s money on advertising, pitting community against
community. They paint the Town of Huntington as unreasonable when it is the
Town that has offered LIPA several settlement proposals, all of which would
save them in excess of $130 million in school taxes and over $210 million in
total taxes over the course of the settlement term. LIPA stubbornly refuses to
make a counteroffer and have never lowered their demands since I took office in
January 2018. It is LIPA, not the Town of Huntington that is negotiating in bad
faith -- The Town of Huntington cannot negotiate against itself!
“LIPA is
now threatening to grieve the taxes on all of the property that it owns, where
its transmission and distribution equipment is installed across Long Island.
These challenges will affect every school district and every municipality on
Long Island.
“On
behalf of the Town Board, I am calling on Governor Cuomo to intervene. When I
was an Assemblyman, Governor Cuomo and I worked on bipartisan measures yet when
it has come to LIPA he has not been willing to meet with me to discuss this
threat facing our community. I appeal to the Governor to meet with me to
discuss a resolution to this lawsuit that could have such disastrous
ramifications for Huntington and all of Suffolk County. Governor Cuomo is the
one person who has the power to stop LIPA – a runaway State agency – from
continuing their attacks on our way of life. Governor Cuomo, on behalf of the
Town Board and over 200,000 residents of the Town of Huntington, plus the
millions across Long Island who face similarly financially devastating
consequences, protect your residents and reign in this runaway State agency:
stop LIPA now!”
Superintendent
Robert Banzer, School Board President Andrew Rapiejko, School Board Vice
President David Stein, and Trustees David Badanes, Victoria Buscareno, Lori
McCue, Donna McNaughton, and Allison Noonan represented the Northport-East
Northport School District.
Superintendent
Robert Banzer spoke on behalf of the School District, who also called for the
abolishment of LIPA:
"Now we face LIPA’s attempt to impose financial devastation to our
district and school districts across Long Island. The damage that LIPA would
impose on the staff, students and community of our District will make our
schools unrecognizable. It should be noted that this financial threat is no
longer contained to just a few school districts who host power plants. In
January, LIPA announced that they would be seeking further reductions to the
$289 million dollars of assessments to the 185 substations across Long Island
thus creating a shortfall for school districts and communities island-wide. The
district is calling on Governor Cuomo to put education first and stop LIPA from
devastating our schools and communities across Long Island."
Representing
Suffolk County were Comptroller John Kennedy, Legislator Robert Trotta, who
represents part of the Northport-East Northport School District, and
representing County Executive Steve Bellone was Lisa Broughton, Energy
Director, Suffolk County Department of Public Works.
Comptroller
John Kennedy spoke on behalf of the County, outlining the county’s dire fiscal
situation and the impact an adverse judgment would have on all Suffolk County
residents: “I’m a
bit limited in what I can speak about today because, through my office, I am
currently embroiled in a separate lawsuit against LIPA but what I can say is
this – a report by New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli's office in
September said Suffolk was under the most severe ‘fiscal stress’ of any county
in the state, in terms of fund balances, cash on hand, short-term borrowing and
other issues. The reason I bring this up is because the numbers we are talking
about today are astronomical and based on our current fiscal situation, I’m not
even sure we would have the ability to go into the market to raise the funds
necessary to cover this potential burden. So, I’m here today to call on LIPA to
come to the table. Work with our local elected officials to come to a
reasonable agreement that will be fair and equitable to all. We simply can’t
afford anything less.”
Also in
attendance from Island Park Public Schools were Jack Vobis, President, Board of
Education and Lauren Schnitzer, Counsel for the District; Superintendent Dr.
Peter Giarrizzo and School Board Trustees from North Shore Central School
District; New York State Assemblyman Andrew Raia was represented by staff
member Barbara Hanna, the Assemblyman was travelling to Albany for the session
resuming Tuesday, June 11; the Village of Northport was represented by Mayor
Damon McMullen and Village Trustees.
Over 100
residents – taxpayers, parents, and students – came out to attend the press
conference on the soggy soccer field in the driving rain, holding signs calling
for Governor Andrew Cuomo to “Stop LIPA Now.” After the press conference ended,
the community members chanted “Stop LIPA now.”
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