Voters must approve tax incentives

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BEACON FALLS — The Board of Selectmen has approved tax abatements for two businesses, but it turned out the board doesn’t have the final authority to do so.

Under the tax incentive ordinance, which was approved by voters in March, applications for the incentives must be approved by voters at a town meeting before going into effect.

In July, the board approved tax abatements for Goldenrod Corporation, which is located at 25 Lancaster Drive, and Dibra LLC, which is based in Seymour.

Dibra applied for the incentive for a new, nearly 1,900-square-foot building at 113 South Main St. the company is in the process of building. Goldenrod plans to add on to its more than 30,000-square-foot building on Lancaster Drive.

The tax incentive offers tax abatements for businesses that invest in a new commercial building or improvements to an existing commercial building. The incentives are offered in three tiers based on how much money a business is investing.

Goldenrod Corporation and Dibra LLC fall into the middle tier of investments and would receive a four-year tax incentive that abates 50 percent of taxes in the first year and incrementally decreases to 20 percent in the fourth year.

“Those have to go to a town meeting because, the way the ordinance is currently configured, the final authority actually comes from a town meeting,” First Selectman Christopher Bielik said during the board’s meeting last week.

A town meeting to approve the tax incentives is set for Aug. 28 at Woodland Regional High School at 7 p.m.

Bielik said the board expects to discuss the ordinance next month to see if it can make any changes.

“We will see if we can put the authority under the Board of Selectmen. I think that streamlines the issue a bit,” Bielik said.

3 COMMENTS

  1. Folks, It is not a good idea to support the Dibra LLC tax incentive. Mario, the member of Dibra, LLC has ties with Selectman Peter Betkoski. Betkoski has borrowed thousands of dollars from Mario and also paves Mario’s properties. There is collusion between Bielik, Betkoski and Dibra, LLC regarding a sewer hookup and Bielik refuses to answer questions on why he said not to execute a cease and desist on Dibra’s property.

    Supporting this tax incentive will not benefit the town, it will promote continued collusion.