WPCNR COMMON COUNCIL CHRONICLE-EXAMINER. By John F. Bailey. September 24, 2003: The Common Council gave its blessing Wednesday morning to a 15-year Payment In Lieu of Taxes plan for former Councilman Bill Brown’s affordable senior housing project he plans to build on South Kensico Avenue. The extended PILOT, originally for ten years, was created to comply partially with the Federal Housing Administration request for a longer PILOT that endured for the length of the bond on the project (25 years). The new PILOT will be submitted to the F.H.A. to consider today.

Mr. Brown said the project needs F.H.A. approval of the city’s  15-year  “compromise” PILOT plan hammered out between Mr. Brown, his partner, and City Corporation Counsel Edward Dunphy and City Accessor Eydie McCarthy. Brown said if the F.H.A. approves the PILOT, he hopes to begin construction on the South Kensico project within the next three months. The letter detailing the PILOT was to go to the Federal Housing Administration this evening, according to Mr. Dunphy.

The meeting convened at approximately 8:10 A.M. Wednesday morning with Joseph Carlucci of the law firm of Cuddy, Feder, Worby explaining to the Council why the new PILOT was needed. He said the F.H.A. had requested a 25 year PILOT to finance the project, instead of the 10-year PILOT originally drawn up for the project with the city.

Carlucci  said the city was willing to make a compromise of a 15-year PILOT under several conditions.

In the first two years of the PILOT, he said, the city agreed to a payment reflecting the site on South Kensico as “vacant land,” but the city required a larger payment in the third year of the project, 2006 when the project would be leasing up. Details of the PILOT agreement are not being made available to the media until after the Federal Housing Adminstration has ruled upon it.

Previously, the City Accessor was requesting PILOT payments of over $4,000 a month, and after discussion last month this was eased to a payment Mr. Brown’s organization can live with, which has been hammered out according to Mr. Brown. Asked why he felt it had been such a struggle, Brown said he felt it was more a matter of the city attempting to appear to be “fair” in setting PILOT agreements to other property owners.

Another condition of the 15-year PILOT is that the project has to be totally affordable housing for the life of the bond and even when sold. Mr. Carlucci advised the Common Council that all apartments would only be made available to families or persons earning less than  60% of median income. Brown said in the year the project has been going through approvals, median income in Westchester County has gone from $89,000 a year to $93,000 a year.

Taking 60% of $93,000, this gives you a figure of $55,800, as the income ceiling. Brown said the PILOT was figured on $91,000 as median income, giving the top income earned by a person renting one of  these apartments could only reach $54,600 annually, a difference of  $1,200, or $100  a month.