CRAWFORD – It's a fundamental belief in our local economy: bring in businesses, build so-called "rateable" properties, as in tax-rateable, and it will help to hold down property taxes, or even, possibly reduce them.

However, when you talk to experienced assessors, the people who really know tax rates, the picture changes.

"In my experience," says Eileen Kelly, an assessor in Minisink, "which goes back 30 years, I haven't seen tax rates ever decline."

James Petro, Chairman of the Orange County Industrial Development Agency (IDA), and as staunch a defender of development and job creation as there could be, admits that he has never seen property tax rates decline, either.

"The IDA provides a tax break to companies that promise to create good jobs," says Petro. "The land value never goes backwards. The state and county taxes are paid, and the school districts are paid, often on a PILOT [Payment In Lieu Of Taxes] scheme, so the town doesn't lose a dime."

The Orange County IDA does not give tax breaks for warehouses or retail operations. "Those aren't the kind of jobs we want to get."

And, Petro adds, "Keep in mind that any special district charges, from fire departments to ambulances and water and sewer are all paid in full, with no abatement at all."

The Industrial Development Agency — set up on a county by county basis, but sometimes also set up for a city or town — has been around since 1972, and is a response to the perceived need for New York State to compete with other states to lure businesses and jobs here.

James Petro emphasizes the competitive nature of the situation these days. "Companies can choose to go to Tennessee and pay $4,000 in taxes, rather than come here and pay $40,000."

To examine the tax rates in the Town of Crawford, which notably lacks "rateables," you can look at the towns of Woodbury and Monroe, which notably host the most famous rateable in all of Orange County, the immense Woodbury Commons shopping precinct.

The biggest component of any property tax bill is the District School Tax. For the Pine Bush School District, which encompasses most of the Town of Crawford, the rate this year is $50.59 (after rounding up) per $1,000 of assessed value. Over in Woodbury the rate is $53.52, and in Monroe it's $111.75 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Assessor Kelly says, "Woodbury Commons is a county-wide project. The sales taxes go to the county, which then doles out small portions to the cities and towns in the whole county. But Woodbury has to deal with the roads, police, water and sewer. If they get extra compensation, it hasn't reduced their tax rates."

Of course, if you've seen Monroe Woodbury High School, with its grand entranceway and fantastic gym, then you do see tax dollars at work. However, had the choice been put to taxpayers in that district — build a fantastic gym or cut tax rates — then the Crusader basketball teams might well be playing in a more ordinary sort of gym.

Assessors are paid to be realistic. So it shouldn't be a surprise that they have a critical eye when it comes to development and the programs put in place to promote it. Andrea Nilon, long time assessor for the towns of Chester and Highland, is critical of the way IDAs have been run in New York.

"Corporations such as IBM and Walmart basically receive a free ride and never meet the target number of jobs promised. In a 2005 study, the total number of jobs created under the program was only about 36 percent of those promised, and many of them were low-paying jobs."

To be clear, that was a statewide study, not just of Orange County. But the basic question of whether these programs actually benefit the local taxpayers remains uncertain.

Nilon says, "As to the tax rate issue, by the time any real benefit can be realized, the economic life of the structures put up at the beginning is considerably diminished and companies are free to just pull up stakes for greener pasture with fresh tax breaks."

James Petro of the Orange County IDA insists that "most businesses that we've worked with have stayed on past the ten years. It's just not that easy to get up and move the company."

Either way, though, the effect of all this has never reduced tax rates and the suspicion remains that what happens is that local taxpayers are actually called on to subsidize jobs for other people.

Kelly puts her view quite succinctly. "We shouldn't be subsidizing businesses to come in here. They should use their own money, they shouldn't get tax money. That way, they'll be more committed to staying."

James Petro sees a different world. "We compete against other states and New York is 50th in the nation when it comes to competitiveness. I'm targeting businesses that wouldn't come here without incentives. We're working to bring jobs here and to retain them. If we can't offer them something then we would lose out to lower cost states."

Andrea Nilon acknowledges the need for growth, but calls for a balanced approach. "The bottom line, I feel, is that we should be getting something for our investment in this process, whether it's good jobs, so people can work where they live, or solid contributions to our school districts, so we can at least hold down the rate of tax increases."