WCW Is Moving To Vermont

by Bea Peterson
WCW Chairman John Wilkinson confirmed this week that the mattress manufacturing company will be moving to Manchester, VT. He expects the Mechanic Street portion of the business to leave as quickly as possible, while the transfer from the Route 22 buildings will be more leisurely. He said the entire move should be completed within the next three months.
Wilkinson said the new location in Manchester is a much bigger space and all three operations will be under one roof. “The building is much, much larger and we can grow,” he said. It is so large that they expect to be leasing some of the space out until they need it. He said the new location is on 34 acres, is two times the size of their present facilities and two times as new, adding that the taxes are only $110,000.
Tax Issues And Procedures
After comments by Wilkinson in last week’s issue of the Eastwick Press, former Hoosick Falls Mayor Laura Reynolds was contacted. She said, “I thought this was all taken care of years ago.” She recalled a meeting many years ago with Town and Village officials, WCW, their attorney and someone representing Industrial Development Agencies. “We made sure WCW was in the Hoosick Empire Zone footprint,” she said. “Any taxes paid could be reimbursed as part of the Empire Zone process, but procedure has to be followed.”
According to the Empire Zone website, Qualified Empire Zone Enterprises receive a refund or credit on State and, in some cases, local sales tax on purchases of goods and services (including utility and telephone services) used in an Empire Zone. They may claim a refundable credit against business or income tax based on real property taxes paid in the zone. Empire zone companies hiring full time employees in newly created jobs may claim a credit for up to five consecutive years for employees in special targeted groups. This credit equals $3,000 per year, with a credit of $1,500 per year for all other new hires.
Reynolds said, “It’s very sad that it has gone on this long. WCW has been very good to the community here. I’m saddened that something favorable to both parties couldn’t be worked out.”
Contrary to Wilkinson’s claim, Reynolds pointed out that, as Mayor, she could not make any kind of deal. “I can voice a personal opinion, but I can’t make any decisions. A Mayor or Supervisor cannot change an assessment. Municipalities have to follow procedures. A grievance must be filed and the case handled locally or it goes to court.”
Reynolds added, “It’s not normal practice to lower an assessment without a request from the property owner at the yearly grievance day. When taxes are not paid, it affects everybody.” She continued, “Business tax allocations are different than homeowners and the taxes are not necessarily based on the purchase price.”
No Appraisal
Attorney Jonathan Schopf, who is representing the Town of Hoosick in the case before the Rensselaer County Supreme Court said the deadline for WCW’s attorney to have an appraisal on file with the Court was August 8. To date no appraisal is on file, and the case is scheduled to go to trial November 9. Only two years are being grieved, 2007 and 2011. Typically, said Schopf, taxes are grieved every year if there is no settlement.
Rensselaer County Attorney Stephen Pechenik said he expects to foreclose on the Mechanic Street properties in September.
Though WCW is grieving the 2007 and 2011 assessment with the Town, the company has never grieved its tax status with the Village.
Town Assessor Tony Rice said the annual Town, County and School taxes on the Mechanic Street property are currently $41,000 a year. He also noted that the Mechanic Street properties previously belonged to the Isola Company. When they moved out, the building was vacant for almost three years and $368,000 was owed in back taxes. That was when WCW purchased the buildings for $400,000. That was why the transaction was referred to as a distressed sale, a term to which Wilkinson took exception.
A check of the tax website egov.basny.com/hoosick indicates the WCW property on Route 22 owned by Four Js has not paid the 2011 Town and County tax. The school tax is not yet due.  A copy of a tax receipt from the Rensselaer County Bureau of Finance provided by Wilkinson after this story went to press shows that the taxes on the WCW property on Route 22 were paid late but in full on May 10, 2011. The website still shows the tax as unpaid. (added 8/26/11)
It could not be ascertained by press time if any Town attorney or official referred to WCW’s “track record” during this lengthy process, as claimed by Wilkinson last week. But according to emails provided by Wilkinson after this story went to press, in June an attorney for JW Realty tried to set up a meeting with the “principals at the Town and with the Town attorney.” He received a reply from the attorney representing the Town stating, “At this juncture my client is of the opinion that given the track record here as well as the amounts owed and the circumstances as they are that a meeting would not be productive and as such they do not intend to participate…” (added 8/26/11)
In an interview with Channel 13 television news Wednesday, Wilkinson implied he was just going to let the County have the building.
WCW Bus Service
Local employees will not be left in the lurch by WCW. John Wilkinson said there is a plan afoot to pick up Hoosick employees at a fixed location and bus them to and from the Manchester worksite, at no cost to them. In spite of the incentives given by the State of Vermont, it seems that they will have to wait for an increase in local employment either through attrition or expansion.