By JOSHUA THOMAS

C-S-E Editor

FORT PLAIN — Historic Fort Plain, Inc., received their 501c3 determination letter from the IRS late last month, providing them tax-exempt status, effective retroactively to August 24, 2011, a full month before HFP bought the former Universalist Church.

The group, in a letter to the Village of Fort Plain Board and Mayor Guy Barton, partially credited Congressman Paul Tonko’s office with helping them to obtain the status much sooner than anticipated.

The status will allow the organization to quality for a number of restoration grants they were previously unable to obtain. On Oct. 1, the group applied for a new Preservation League of NYS Technical Assistance Grant for $2,750. The grant application is for an architect to conduct a top-to-bottom assessment of Unity Hall, create architectural ‘record’ drawings of the floor plan, and a provide a prioritized work list of what needs to be done inside and out for the group to accomplish their adaptive reuse goals.

If the group is unable to obtain the grant funding, it was noted that they’ll move forward with the assessment at their own expense.

During last Tuesday’s village of Fort Plain meeting, group representative Ted Arndt approached the Village Board requesting that they forgive taxes retroactively in the amount of $625.38.

The Village Board denied the request, at the suggestion of Attorney John Kirkpatrick. Cited in his reasoning was Volume 7 — Opinions of Counsel SBEA No. 72, which states, in part, “a lease or sale to a non-profit organization will not affect this property’s current liability for taxes. The right to an exemption is determined by a parcel’s condition and ownership as of the taxable status date.”

Kirkpatrick stated that based on those findings, there is no basis for forgiving or waiving the taxes on the parcel, which was not entitled to an exemption on the taxable status date. He noted that once the taxes on the property have accrued, the village would be providing HFP an “unconstitutional gift” by forgiving them.

He stated that it’s in the hands of the town of Minden Chief Assessor Cheryl Reese to now decide whether the parcel qualifies for a retroactive exemption.