Industrial Development Agency (IDA) and PILOT Payments The Columbia County Industrial Development Agency is a powerful tool to assist economic development projects in lowering costs through tax-favored financing and exemption from local taxes. The IDA mechanism was created by Congress in the 1960s and evolved through legislation to focus on helping medium-sized manufacturing companies expand.
Since 1976, the Columbia County IDA has helped nearly a score of companies add facilities and equipment by providing low-cost financing and tax breaks. On average, one in four projects sponsored through IDA has received a property tax abatement. The IDA itself doesn’t actually lend any money, but issues Industrial Revenue Bonds on behalf of companies. A wide range of companies and projects can be bonded, from factories to day-care centers.
In addition to assisting companies with financing, three kinds of exemptions from local taxes are available through IDA:
PILOT Payments
The Columbia County IDA takes title to a property and leases it back. The IDA sets up an agreement with the company to make payments to local taxing entities -- County, Town, Village, School District -- instead of paying property taxes. The IDA acts as a conduit for these taxes. Amounts paid by PILOT are usually, but not always, less than the actual tax rate on the improved property. A PILOT agreement typically lasts 10 to 20 years.
Sales Tax Exemption
This is an exemption through IDA from state and local sales taxes on a project’s construction materials, fixtures, furnishings, and equipment.
Mortgage Exemption
This is an exemption through IDA from the County mortgage recording tax, which is .075 percent of the mortgage amount.
The financing and tax incentives that Columbia County can provide through its IDA give the County clout for attracting new businesses and for assisting existing businesses to expand. IDA is a time-tested system that supports the increasing movement toward civic decision-making on the local level.
The Columbia County IDA meets regularly in the office of Columbia Hudson Partnership in Hudson. Local newspapers publish dates and times of all CHP meetings at 518-828-4718.
Columbia County has nearly fifty country farm markets and orchards, many of them specializing in organic produce.
The Old Chatham Sheepherding Company is the largest sheep dairy farm in the United States.
Census/Demographics
The estimated population of the County is 63,668.
Hudson, once a busy port city frequented by whalers, is the Seat of Columbia County.
Arts & Culture
PS/21 - Performing Spaces for the 21st Century, is a new venue under the direction of Gwen Gould, offering classical sings under an open-air tent in Chatham. www.ps21chatham.org.
What's New
Migrant Farm Workers Get New Housing Through Innovative Program
Migrant workers on several farms in Columbia County are receiving new living quarters thanks to a unique program created by the Columbia Hudson Partnership.
