by bwparker1
From the Olean Times-Herald
Authority agrees to buy rail line
SALAMANCA — The Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority voted Monday to buy the north-south railroad through Cattaraugus County from Norfolk Southern Railway by March 1.
The rail line that runs from the Cattaraugus-Wyoming County line to the New York-Pennsylvania border would then be leased to the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad.
It would be a similar arrangement to the one the Railroad Authority negotiated with Norfolk Southern for the east-west former Erie-Lackawanna Railroad in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany and Steuben counties.
Cattaraugus County, municipalities and school districts along the line stand to lose more than $500,000 in property taxes a year when the tax-exempt Railroad Authority takes title to the rail line.
Earlier Monday at a meeting with the Rail Authority at the Center for Regional Excellence, county town and school officials complained about the lack of advance notice of the proposed deal that was made public only last week.
In an attempt to ease the financial loss property taxes from the railroad, the Rail Authority authorized William Burt, president of the Western New York & Pennsylvania, to negotiate with Norfolk Southern for a transitional payment in lieu of taxes in the first year.
He said the Buffalo line did not generate enough revenue to support itself. Initially, the Rail Authority was going to purchase the line only from the state line to Machias Junction, but on Monday, Mr Burt said Norfolk Southern was seeking to sell all of the line in Cattaraugus County to the Rail Authority for $1.
Judi McCarthy, Hinsdale Central School District superintendent, said news of the $36,000 loss of property taxes from the Buffalo rail line comes after the district has already begun preparing for its 2007-08 budget. She noted the school district also lost more than $50,000 a year when the east-west rail line was taken off the tax rolls six years ago. That combined $90,000 a year is the equivalent of two teachers, she added.
Ms McCarthy said the proposal by the Western New York & Pennsylvania would be more credible if the railroad was not asking for the tax abatement on the east-west line to be extended for six years past September 2008, the date when a 33 percent payment in lieu of taxes was due to begin.
Jeff VanDeCarr, Hinsdale town supervisor, said the town had already given up $78,000 in tax revenue from the east-west line, and is now being asked to give up an additional $66,000 from the Buffalo line.
“We’re not a wealthy community,” he said.
Cattaraugus County Legislature Vice Chairman Michael O’Brien also expressed concern over the “fast track” the proposal seemed to be on, without input from municipalities that would be affected. He also urged the WNY&P to stick with its 2008 date to begin making PILOT payments to municipalities along the east-west line.
The original PILOT agreement for the east-west line would have seen WNY&P make one-third of the tax payments on the line in 2008, two-thirds in 2009 and full taxes in 2009. The date for partial PILOT payments would be pushed back to 2015 under the new agreement.
Mr Burt said the shortline railroad, which currently operates between Meadville, PA, and Hornell, NY, has just begun to show a profit in the past two years, but needs to spend another $20 million on track rehabilitation.
Norfolk Southern, Mr Burt said, wants to close the deal on the Buffalo line by the March 1 taxable status date to avoid paying taxes on the line that runs between Buffalo and Driftwood, Pa. He detailed the WNY&P proposal in a Feb 1 letter to Cattaraugus County Legislature Chairman Crystal Abers.
Mrs Abers asked if the Rail Authority couldn’t delay its purchase of the line to give the municipalities and school districts one more year of property taxes.
“If this were done after March 1, it would allow school districts and towns time to plan for this (tax loss).”
The resolution approved by the Rail Authority included a provision proposed by Allegany County Legislator Karl Kruger of Friendship to let Mr Burt negotiate with Norfolk Southern for “transitional” payments in the first year of the agreement.
Mr Burt said the WNY&P had taken the former Erie Lackawanna Railroad that had “been given up for dead and brought it back to life. No one expected us to pull it off.”
He said the Olean-Allegany rail yard now under Norfolk Southern control would become the hub of WNY&P operations. The yard would include a locomotive shop and dispatching facility now located in Falconer, east of Jamestown.
“I don’t see anything but positive impacts for Olean,” he added.
Donald Rychnowski, Southern Tier West Regional Planning Board executive director, said plans call for locating a multi-modal facility at the rail yard that stretches from the city of Olean into town of Allegany. The multi-modal facility will allow for goods to be loaded and unloaded from rail cars onto trucks for shipment to and from local industries.
“The Olean yard turns out to be the best site,” Mr Rychnowski said.
The WNY&P would be better able to serve local industries than Norfolk Southern, Mr. Burt said. The railroad will not only help to retain and expand existing shippers, but create opportunities for new businesses.
Cattaraugus County Legislator Jerry E Burrell, said the municipalities and school districts are being asked to make all the sacrifices, while the railroad is asking for an extension of its tax abatement. There are no Cattaraugus County businesses along the east-west line, he noted.
Authority agrees to buy rail line
SALAMANCA — The Southern Tier Extension Railroad Authority voted Monday to buy the north-south railroad through Cattaraugus County from Norfolk Southern Railway by March 1.
The rail line that runs from the Cattaraugus-Wyoming County line to the New York-Pennsylvania border would then be leased to the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad.
It would be a similar arrangement to the one the Railroad Authority negotiated with Norfolk Southern for the east-west former Erie-Lackawanna Railroad in Chautauqua, Cattaraugus, Allegany and Steuben counties.
Cattaraugus County, municipalities and school districts along the line stand to lose more than $500,000 in property taxes a year when the tax-exempt Railroad Authority takes title to the rail line.
Earlier Monday at a meeting with the Rail Authority at the Center for Regional Excellence, county town and school officials complained about the lack of advance notice of the proposed deal that was made public only last week.
In an attempt to ease the financial loss property taxes from the railroad, the Rail Authority authorized William Burt, president of the Western New York & Pennsylvania, to negotiate with Norfolk Southern for a transitional payment in lieu of taxes in the first year.
He said the Buffalo line did not generate enough revenue to support itself. Initially, the Rail Authority was going to purchase the line only from the state line to Machias Junction, but on Monday, Mr Burt said Norfolk Southern was seeking to sell all of the line in Cattaraugus County to the Rail Authority for $1.
Judi McCarthy, Hinsdale Central School District superintendent, said news of the $36,000 loss of property taxes from the Buffalo rail line comes after the district has already begun preparing for its 2007-08 budget. She noted the school district also lost more than $50,000 a year when the east-west rail line was taken off the tax rolls six years ago. That combined $90,000 a year is the equivalent of two teachers, she added.
Ms McCarthy said the proposal by the Western New York & Pennsylvania would be more credible if the railroad was not asking for the tax abatement on the east-west line to be extended for six years past September 2008, the date when a 33 percent payment in lieu of taxes was due to begin.
Jeff VanDeCarr, Hinsdale town supervisor, said the town had already given up $78,000 in tax revenue from the east-west line, and is now being asked to give up an additional $66,000 from the Buffalo line.
“We’re not a wealthy community,” he said.
Cattaraugus County Legislature Vice Chairman Michael O’Brien also expressed concern over the “fast track” the proposal seemed to be on, without input from municipalities that would be affected. He also urged the WNY&P to stick with its 2008 date to begin making PILOT payments to municipalities along the east-west line.
The original PILOT agreement for the east-west line would have seen WNY&P make one-third of the tax payments on the line in 2008, two-thirds in 2009 and full taxes in 2009. The date for partial PILOT payments would be pushed back to 2015 under the new agreement.
Mr Burt said the shortline railroad, which currently operates between Meadville, PA, and Hornell, NY, has just begun to show a profit in the past two years, but needs to spend another $20 million on track rehabilitation.
Norfolk Southern, Mr Burt said, wants to close the deal on the Buffalo line by the March 1 taxable status date to avoid paying taxes on the line that runs between Buffalo and Driftwood, Pa. He detailed the WNY&P proposal in a Feb 1 letter to Cattaraugus County Legislature Chairman Crystal Abers.
Mrs Abers asked if the Rail Authority couldn’t delay its purchase of the line to give the municipalities and school districts one more year of property taxes.
“If this were done after March 1, it would allow school districts and towns time to plan for this (tax loss).”
The resolution approved by the Rail Authority included a provision proposed by Allegany County Legislator Karl Kruger of Friendship to let Mr Burt negotiate with Norfolk Southern for “transitional” payments in the first year of the agreement.
Mr Burt said the WNY&P had taken the former Erie Lackawanna Railroad that had “been given up for dead and brought it back to life. No one expected us to pull it off.”
He said the Olean-Allegany rail yard now under Norfolk Southern control would become the hub of WNY&P operations. The yard would include a locomotive shop and dispatching facility now located in Falconer, east of Jamestown.
“I don’t see anything but positive impacts for Olean,” he added.
Donald Rychnowski, Southern Tier West Regional Planning Board executive director, said plans call for locating a multi-modal facility at the rail yard that stretches from the city of Olean into town of Allegany. The multi-modal facility will allow for goods to be loaded and unloaded from rail cars onto trucks for shipment to and from local industries.
“The Olean yard turns out to be the best site,” Mr Rychnowski said.
The WNY&P would be better able to serve local industries than Norfolk Southern, Mr. Burt said. The railroad will not only help to retain and expand existing shippers, but create opportunities for new businesses.
Cattaraugus County Legislator Jerry E Burrell, said the municipalities and school districts are being asked to make all the sacrifices, while the railroad is asking for an extension of its tax abatement. There are no Cattaraugus County businesses along the east-west line, he noted.
