Canajoharie prepares to sue over loss of Beech-Nut
By KERRY McAVOY, The Leader-HeraldCANAJOHARIE - The Village Board has decided to pursue a possible lawsuit over the departure of the local Beech-Nut factory.
Mayor Leigh Fuller said village officials voted last week to pursue an Article 78 action - a legal challenge to action, or inaction, by agencies and officers of state and local government.
The major concern is how the village will pay its $2.8 million debt for its water system without the tax revenue from the baby food-processing plant that has long been the main engine of the village economy.
Fuller said once Beech-Nut consolidates its operations in the town of Florida, Canajoharie property owners will face a tax-rate increase of $7 to $8 per $1,000 of assessed property value. He said the village already has one of the highest property tax rates in the region - $18 per $1,000 of assessed value.
He said many taxpayers in the village are retired and live on fixed incomes. He said they can't afford to pay high taxes to cover the water bond debt.
"All we're trying to do is to protect the taxpayers of this very small village, who will be devastated by this," Fuller said.
Fuller said Beech-Nut now pays about $1.7 million in village taxes per year.
Village officials are concerned that no buyer or tenant for the factory has been secured yet.
"We have $1.7 million going out the door, and nothing coming in the door," Fuller said.
Village Trustee Jeffrey Baker said the community also will lose $180,000 per year in school district property taxes.
"We feel [legal action] is the only way we can recoup anticipated losses," Baker said.
The village has not yet decided who would be named as defendants in the lawsuit. Fuller said the village attorney is working on the Article 78 filing and deciding who would be named in the lawsuit.
Baker said the Village Board has several weeks to gather data before filing the action.
"A lot of people are upset about this," Baker said.
Village officials said they had received no written commitment of aid from state or federal agencies until late last week, when state Sen. Hugh T. Farley, R-Niskayuna, announced the village will receive $500,000 in state funding to help diversify the local economy after Beech-Nut's move.
"This is a step in the right direction," Village Trustee Tom Grainer said Friday of the grant announcement. He was the only board member who did not vote on the resolution earlier in the week; he was absent from the meeting due to illness.
Fuller said by pursuing legal action, officials are doing the right thing for the village.
"All I'm doing is putting out our plight," Fuller said. "It may be the wrong decision and it may be the right one. There is certainly no way of knowing down the road which one it will turn out to be."
Baker said although the matter isn't on the board's agenda for its meeting Tuesday, he expects it will come up in discussion.
The board will meet Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the village offices.
General Assignment reporter Richard Nilsen contributed to this story.
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bubbasdad
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07-03-08 7:54 PM
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Hard to find anyone dumber than a small town politician.
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countrygirl76
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07-02-08 7:39 AM
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Maybe all you big officials should of taken into consideration the loss of business that the local businesses have lost due to the one way bridge closure. If this had been done properly more tax revenue would have been brought to the area. Get over it they are moving, direct your efforts on getting someone in there. Maybe a brewery????
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ve22gg
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07-01-08 5:53 AM
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Isn't Beech-Nut getting over 100 Million in Tax cuts.
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KurtMraz
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06-30-08 6:54 PM
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No help needed, its called POOR planning from a business perspective to put all your eggs in one basket. They have known for how long now this was happening? Gee ya think they start figuring out how to get new business to move in!!! I'd hate to see their investment portfolios, probably as sturdy as a house made out of playing cards. They'll pee away more tax payers dollars in a frivolous lawsuit that only fattens the lawyers pockets.
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MrRoboto
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06-30-08 4:37 PM
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OK...let me understand this. The Village budgeted based on an assumption that its economic conditions would never change??? Are they going to sue homeowners now if they move out of town and stop using water and sewer services? And, does this mean we can sue former employers if we get fired and can no longer pay our credit card bills and car payments? Someone help me out on this...
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StopTheFraud
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06-30-08 3:53 PM
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Village officials said they had received no written commitment of aid from state or federal agencies until late last week, when state Sen. Hugh T. Farley, R-Niskayuna, announced the village will receive $500,000 in state funding to help diversify the local economy after Beech-Nut's move. What does that even mean?...help diversify the local economy.
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slider
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06-30-08 3:09 PM
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Mr. Fuller, instead of spending money your city apparently does not have on a worthless lawsuit that is about as frivilous as you can get, why dont you look at what you can do to with these buildings to make them attractive to other businesses. Suing a company for leaving, that is priceless.
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StopTheFraud
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06-30-08 1:51 PM
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This is so silly. Legally speaking, there is nothing that says Beechnut (or any other company for that matter) is responsible for future tax payments to a municipality, when the municipality was the entity which voted to approve the bond. Basically, the Board voted (in years past) to bond a water (and probably sewer) project. Just because (unless stipulated contractually) Beechnut stood to benefit from it doesn't make it legally responsible to fund it. Beechnut was paying for a service. They are no longer collecting this service...why would it pay? This is crazy...and might I add embarassing. The typical reaction is to trump with {taxpayers in the village are retired and live on fixed incomes.....they can't afford to pay high taxes}. Guess what Mr. Fuller....no one can afford to pay high taxes.
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PRB3355
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06-30-08 1:46 PM
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For more than 6 months I have been advocating numerous adaptive reuses for this site within the context of "the company is moving...lets move forward!" Rather than be adversarial with Hero and the County pursue options. The site is well suited for a "clean" industry, it has great access, its on the water etc. No one wants change, but it might turn into something better for the Village down the road. Dont assume all is lost. The County has some excellent staff and elected officials who will work with the Village, given the opportunity.
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barbijane1016
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06-30-08 1:07 PM
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If they ever went to a jury trial, I'd love to be on that jury.
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Bill
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06-30-08 12:14 PM
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I WILL SAY IT AGAIN TURN THAT PLANT INTO A FROOZEN ICE FACTORY HOW ABOUT A RITAS LUGIES BETTER YET WINTER GREEEN LEND ME 125 MILLION IN TAX BRAKES AND HELLE I DO IT
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