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Hospital, Rippowam Cisqua Get Tax-Free Financing

MOUNT KISCO, N.Y. – Northern Westchester Hospital and the Rippowam Cisqua School, which has campuses in Mount Kisco and Bedford, are the first two organizations to be approved for funding by Westchester County’s Local Development Corp.

The agency, created under the state’s Not-for-Profit Corporation Law in January, approved a total of $44 million in tax-exempt financing on July 26 for expansion and renovation projects at the hospital and the school. The projects include revamping the hospital's surgical suite and an overhaul of Rippowam Cisqua’s athletic fields.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino said the LDC will create jobs, including 29 or more at the hospital, without financial risk for the taxpayers or the county, according to a statement released by his office.

Joel Seligman, president and CEO of Northern Westchester Hospital, said that in addition to creating jobs, the LDC financing will allow more patients to take advantage of the hospital’s top-notch facilities.

“The demand for our surgical services and expert physicians continues to rise,” he said in the release. “This funding will enable Northern Westchester Hospital to meet this growing patient demand.”

The LDC is issuing about $36 million in tax-free bonds for the hospital's project, which is expected to cost $42 million. The project will expand one of the surgical suites and add six new operating rooms and 13 pre- and post-anesthesia care unit beds.

Rippowam Cisqua will receive $8 million in financing from tax-free bonds; the school plans to use about $815,000 of that to resod and improve irrigation on its athletic fields and install a new grass athletic field for elementary and middle school sports.

The LDC financing will save $80,000 to $100,000 a year, according to school officials, and will also be used to help refinance the school's bonds and bank loans.

“The savings we will see as a result of this bond issuance will directly have a positive impact on the lives of our children,” Head of School Matthew Nespole said in the release. “The money saved will be invested in the curriculum, teachers, professional development and other elements that have a real effect on learning.”

The Local Development Corp. consists of a board that reviews county nonprofits’ requests for tax-free bonds and issues other financial incentives. It replaces the state’s Industrial Development agencies, which lost the power to authorize bonds for nonprofits in 2008.

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