Orange County: Over $100K in delinquent taxes are owed on The Rock and The Yard

BY ERIKA NORTON
CHESTER — There are a combined total of more than $100,000 in delinquent taxes owed on the Frozen Ropes Rock Sports Park in Chester and The Yard Sports Village in Warwick, according to the Orange County Department of Finance. Tony Abbatine is the founder and owner of the national Frozen Ropes sports training franchise and purchased The Yard in 2014.
"We are in the process of refinancing with several banks and we also know that in the next month or so there will be at some point a purchase," Abbatine said on Oct. 5 about The Rock. "The county delinquency [on The Rock] will be taken care of through a refinance or just simply us writing a check in the next few weeks."
As of Oct. 5, over $52,000 in delinquent taxes are owed on The Rock property and over $57,500 is owed on The Yard, a combined total — including penalties, interest and fines — of over $100,000.
The Town of Chester plans to purchase The Rock Sports Park for $3.3 million if approved by Chester residents in a referendum vote on Nov. 8. The proposed plan is to use the sports park for town recreation and summer camp. Taxes on The Rock paid late in the past
According to the town of Chester, after April 1, all unpaid taxes are marked “unpaid” on the town’s online tax bill system and forwarded to the Commissioner of Finance of Orange County. The 2012, 2013, and 2014 Chester town tax bills for The Rock are all marked “unpaid,” meaning they were not paid on time and sent to the county as delinquent.
Abbatine said, “I believe we were looking to refinance with some banks a while ago. Nothing in particular, we typically pay the taxes around this time."
As for why taxes on The Yard are unpaid, he said, “I’m one of four partners there, so I couldn’t tell you that.”
The Rock property does have a business tax exemption, which is a 10-year agreement that started in 2011 and incrementally increases annually. For 2016, the exemption was $288,562.

Bailout?

Town Supervisor Alex Jamieson has addressed rumors that the town would be bailing out Frozen Ropes by purchasing The Rock, saying at a past town council meeting that the town is not bailing our Frozen Ropes, but that Frozen Ropes is moving to The Yard in Warwick. Abbatine bought The Yard, formerly the Mid-Orange Correctional Facility and three times the size of The Rock, for $1.78 million.
When asked about the bailout rumors, Abbatine said he doesn’t know where those rumors came from.
“The Yard is an expansion project that we’re looking at. So, as far as bailing out, if this makes sense for the town, then it's a deal for them. If it doesn’t, then we stay here or we talk to alternate buyers so I don’t think it's a question of bailing us out. We’ve been here for six years.
“I keep hearing that, and I’m not quite so sure because people know that we’re looking to expand into The Yard that the town is bailing us out, but I don’t believe that to be accurate at all. In fact, I find it a little comical.”
When asked whether Frozen Ropes at the Rock is in financial trouble, Abbatine said, “no, not at all.”
Three Frozen Ropes franchises have closed in recent years, including ones in Danbury, Conn., and White Plains, N.Y., and one in Chicago.

Impact on taxpayers, school district

The Rock pays $7,600 a year to the town and $1,500 to the Chester fire department in annual taxes, according to online tax records. Jamieson has said that Chester residents’ taxes will not rise to make up the shortfall.
As for the school district, The Rock pays about $29,300 to the school system annually. If the Rock is sold to the town, the property will no longer be on the tax rolls.
Chester Superintendent Sean Michel said in an email to The Chronicle that the school district is remaining neutral regarding Chester’s plans to purchase The Rock. He said that the district has not had any formal conversations with the town regarding the proposed purchase.
When asked about a possible partnership where the town shares the Frozen Ropes facilities with the school - in the event that the purchase occurs - Michel wrote in an email, “We have a very good working relationship with the town and have inter-municipal agreements with them regarding the use of facilities. We use Chester Commons, and they use our facilities for summer camp and basketball."