Southtowns Record

1196 BIG TREE-APPLICATION

Government
Town of Aurora
Board
Town Board
Meeting
May 6, 2026
Kind
Other
Topics
Zoning and land use, Water, sewer and drainage, Parks and recreation, Public safety, Budget and taxes, Roads and traffic, Audits and oversight

Original document

Same meeting

Text · page 15 of 53

Read the whole document on one page (all 53 pages, each with its own heading)

Chairman, Doug Crow states he attended a three-day conference, also attended by
Supervisor, Chuck Snyder pertaining to PILOTs (Payments-in-lieu-of-Taxes. One of the
things the State has done is to try to encourage alternative energy. They passed a section
of the Real Property Code that allows people who make improvements for solar, wind,
etc., not to increase the taxes prior to receiving revenue. The intention is to give
exemption from assessed value and then encourage the developers if they are going to do
a project, to sign a Payment in Lieu of Tax agreement with the local town, that lets them
change the schedule of the timing of the payments. The developer has a sixty-day
window to the town negotiate a PILOT. The town can say yes or no, then move to
negotiate if granted. It is not necessarily efficient. The State now recommends passing a
law to negotiate a PILOT in all cases.

Chairman, Doug Crow created a draft which he felt would be appropriate for our town. If
the Planning Board can discuss and get comfortable with the idea, we could recommend
the Town Board adopt a version of this.

Tim Stroth questions what needs to be in the contract, and who pays for the negotiations
and contract development. How do we make the assurances to cover all bases to protect
the Town. There would be a need for legal advice. A contract template should be created.

Chairman, Doug Crow states that would be a fee charged.

Multiple people talking.

Tim Stroth states there are a couple of options. The Town could choose to opt out of this
or if they do pass a law, it would make more sense to have a template contract that
addresses all the conditions.

Tim Stroth asks CEO, Liz Cassidy, for her opinion of this topic.

CEO, Liz Cassidy states there would be no involvement from the Building and Code
Enforcement Department. She feels the request should go to the Supervisor for approval
process.

Angela Griffis states she is on the fence with her opinion based on what we are trying to
do. If we are trying to encourage more solar in the community, this is going to go against
that. However, she feels it to be more beneficial to larger commercial scale.

Chairman, Doug Crow states there would be the potential of three options.
  1.  Opt out of the discount, which would hurt solar development
  2.  Pass a PILOT law.
  3.  Not pass a PILOT law.

Multiple people talking