I'm $2485 poorer now. Just paid my property taxes

[Earth_First]

16. We weren't given property tax increases this year...

However, Maggie Brooks (R) the county executive who ran unsucessfully for Congress against Louise Slaughter, has increased "chargebacks" from the City of Rochester to county taxpayers by 23% or to the tune of 40 million dollars.

Monroe County has the highest property tax rate in the nation; however through COMIDA and other Downtown Development Corporation loopholes, City of Rochester downtown real estate owners recieve generous PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) grants and tax structure subsidies to develop downtown real estate.

Prime example is the Rochwill corporation; a parent group of The Wilmorite Group. The Wilmorite Group own four area malls, several strip mall retail locations, and most recently residential housing primarily used by Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochwill was able to sell a property downtown to a Boston-based development firm, at a profit; on a property that Rochwill owed the City of Rochester $20 million in back real estate property taxes. The mayor and City Council simply 'charged-off' the deliquent amount; and allowed the sale to move forward.

This is simply ONE example of many in the City of Rochester (NY)