I’m all for hefty tax breaks for Hollywood actress Vera Farmiga and her husband for an $11 million project to convert a vintage granary in Accord into a restaurant, hotel and bike shop, etc. But then, I don’t pay taxes in Accord.

It’s been quite a while now, but it seems these projects don’t fly without generous tax abatements from host communities, called payments in lieu of taxes or PILOTs for short. For the county’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA), it’s like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

If developers don’t get what they ask for, they’ll either drop the project or move it someplace else willing to swallow the tax abatements.

It’s not like these entities get off scot-free. Vera Inc. will save just over $1 million over a 15-year period but will pay almost the same amount in (reduced) taxes during that time.

I don’t sit on the IDA, but they might consider bargaining just a little bit harder with future applicants, which is to keep in clear focus the taxpayers’ ability to pay. Should the IDA tighten its spigot a bit, developers could go back to business the old-fashioned way by raising money from investors.

Speaking of Tax Breaks …

Towns along the underwater Hudson River route of the Champlain Power Express, which include Red Hook and the Town of Ulster, are being asked to consider one of those “the glass is either half full or half empty” propositions.

Developers are asking for a 50 percent property tax reduction. Red Hook seems willing to talk. Ulster Town Supervisor Jim Quigley is digging in his heels. “I want the full $47,000,” he told the Freeman.

I sense wiggle room here. After enduring years of regulation, delays and environmental challenges, developers have finally gotten the green light to proceed. They’ll build the line anyway to replace the power that went to New York City after the Indian Point nuclear plant was closed by the state.

Fifty percent off taxes is too much of an ask. Bull-headed stubbornness doesn’t work, either.

How About Another Tax Break?

This one comes with some caveats.

A 20 percent protracted tax discount is a bit steep as IDA subsidies go, but the developer for proposed apartments on the former King’s Motel in mid-Broadway will be building what he calls “100 percent affordable housing.”

Affordable housing is Job One for the Noble administration and if a developer is willing to partner with the city (in terms of tax breaks) to put a dent in that demand, let’s get on with it.

Traffic Study Says Kingston’s Streets Are Safer

A recently released study by the county finds Kingston streets notably safer after a reduction in speed limits and a reconfiguration of Broadway and Greenkill Avenue.

And yet, to me, it doesn’t seem safer. At least three bicyclists have been killed since the new routes went into effect. Reports of pedestrians being clipped seem to surface on a weekly basis. It seems confusing, especially at night.

And yet, these stats don’t lie. Which is to say the inconveniences motorists have experienced in recent years seem to have produced a safer city for everyone. All in all, not a bad trade-off.

Top City Lawyer Resigns as County Dem Chair

To the surprise of some, but perhaps not to the insiders who plot these things, county Democratic Party Chair Barbara Graves-Poller has resigned with six months remaining on her two-year term.

That Graves-Poller is also the City of Kingston’s corporation counsel, creating in some minds a possible conflict of interest, was perhaps a factor in her decision to quit. Who knows? Political committees are private, secretive organizations, even as tasked with maintaining our two-party system.

The now-former chair cited changes in her “professional life” as reason for her decision. In terms of ambiguity, that one ranks up there with “family considerations.”

Woodstock County Legislator Jeff Collins, the man with many hats, stepped up from his position as county committee vice chair. An election for a new chair (Collins says he doesn’t want the job on a permanent basis) will take place in September. Collins also chairs the powerful Ways and Means Committee of the legislature.

Graves-Poller, after her predecessor Kelleigh McKenzie of Rosendale left a solid foundation, took her party to new heights during her brief tenure. Nineteen Democrats were elected to the Ulster County Legislature last year, comparable in percentage to the 28-5 majorities Republicans enjoyed in their long-ago heydays.