Geneva council rejects $2Million offer

On Wednesday, city council rejected a more than $2Million offer from HWS Colleges and Finger Lakes Health that hinged on Council repealing the new Transportation Benefit Assessment District. City Manager Mathew Horn said that while pleased that the adoption of the new district motivated that a cost sharing model is in order, the proposed offer failed to achieve the fair and equitable distribution of costs provided by the assessment district. Mr. Horn also stated that the council was not interested in making a counter-offer or negotiating the issue. HWS President Mark Gearan indicated the colleges and other non-profit organizations would sue the city if their offer was rejected. Gearan also stated that he believed that all parties will now have to incur unnecessary legal expenses. Dr. Jose Acevedo, CEO of Finger Lakes Health also expressed disappointment over the council decision. The Colleges and Finger Lakes Health offers would raise the $2Million for the city over the course of 10 years, while the Assessment District would raise the money in 2012 and reduce property taxes for taxable properties by approx. 30 percent. After further discussion the council voted to go into executive session.