Last week I mentioned that the Town Council was thinking of giving a developer a $60,000.00 tax break as an incentive to do something it had already done. This week the Council voted to do it:
The Town Council this week approved a one-year tax abatement for the Hilton Garden Inn of a little more than $60,000, in a 5-3 vote.
Groton Hospitality LLC, which is building the hotel on Gold Star Highway, asked for tax relief under the town’s financial incentive policy last summer. The final amount is 25 percent of the value of the upgrades to the hotel, which include a brick façade, additional landscaping and cherry finishes inside the hotel.
Councilor Rita Schmidt changed her mind since the council committee vote last week and opposed the tax break. Councilors Frank O’Beirne and Kathryn Brown-Tracy also voted against it. Councilor Heather Sherman Bond was absent.
The council plans to reconsider its incentive policy, which does not specify a time element in granting the tax breaks.
Granting the tax breaks is discretionary, so the time element is irrelevant. Congratulations to Rita for changing her mind on this giveaway and to rookie Brown-Tracy for being against it from the beginning.
Post a Comment