Staff from the Oneonta Veteran’s Outreach Center asked the Oneonta Town Board to consider awarding fully disabled veterans a property tax exemption at its Wednesday, Jan. 14 meeting.
Gary Flaherty, a retired U.S. Army command sergeant major and chief administrator for the outreach center, asked the board to consider passing a law that would give 100% disabled veterans a real property tax exemption. He said it would not apply to many local veterans, given the parameters, but it is an option the board should consider voting on.
The city of Oneonta’s Legislative Committee discussed similar legislation Monday, Jan. 12. The state Legislature passed the bill during its 2025 session, but local municipalities must adopt a local law or resolution individually to opt in. Gov. Kathy Hochul signed the bill into law in December.
According to Daily Star archives, a qualified veteran must be honorably discharged and “permanently and fully” disabled as a result of their military service. The veteran additionally must be eligible for or have received financial assistance from the U.S. government.
“I know this town is very pro-veteran, and I would encourage you to consider that,” Flaherty said.
It would need to be done by March 1 through a resolution, Flaherty said. He added that its passing was “unique” in that every member of the state Assembly and Senate voted in favor of the legislation.
Board member Brett Holleran clarified the qualifications laid out in the legislation, confirming that a veteran that is 50% disabled would not qualify for the property tax exemption. Flaherty said he was correct, that a veteran would need to be 100% disabled, which is why it would not apply to many people.
During the presentation, Flaherty said the outreach center has expanded since opening in nearly a year ago. It started out with as a place where veterans receive assistance, and now, Flaherty said, it has a “well used, well supported” food pantry, clothing bank and other services. He said he has 74 open cases, as he was recertified by the state of New York to do compensation cases for veterans.
Kerri Lincoln, a case manager, works with homeless veterans, Flaherty said, and she has been able to place four homeless veterans from the streets of Oneonta. Lincoln said the center does not turn anybody away that needs access to the food pantry. She added that there is a shower and microwave available.
The board did not taken action Wednesday on the legislation.
Other business
During the petitioner’s period, a few attendees voiced more concerns with a proposed data center facility in the town. The applicants for the project, which they have called an “agricultural research project,” are Tirusha Dave and Prashanth Gorantala, representatives from EcoYotta Inc.
The research center would use computer servers to produce heat to grow plants using a hydroponic system, Daily Star archives stated.
Chloe Diamond-Lenow, an assistant professor of women’s and gender studies at SUNY Oneonta and resident of Oneonta, said the research opportunities that EcoYotta discussed with the university were not as fully developed as they made them sound.
While she acknowledged that a memorandum of understanding was signed between EcoYotta and the university, she said nothing has gone to the faculty senate to address this further, and she felt the partnership was misrepresented. Diamond-Lenow said EcoYotta representatives mentioned creating 50 internships through their space, which were not part of the MOU. Internships are overseen by faculty, she said, but they are not “compelled to oversee internships.”
Diamond-Lenow said she brought this concern to the chair of her department, Summer Cunningham, who spoke with SUNY Oneonta President Alberto Cardelle. Diamond-Lenow said he said there was not an official pathway moving forward, but any action from this point on would need to go through shared governance.
“I was really frustrated to hear as faculty and as a resident of Oneonta, my campus being used as justification for this,” Diamond-Lenow said. “There really isn’t any infrastructure for that partnership, not has there been any kind of universal consent or even place for discussion.”
Patricia Jacob, also from Oneonta, said EcoYotta misrepresented the scope of the project from the beginning. There is still a lack of clarity regarding funding for the project, Jacob said, and they still refuse to disclose the location of their project in New Jersey, which they have said mirrors that of their proposal in Oneonta.