For the past three years, the Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition has maintained office space in this building at the corner of North Fifth and State streets--a building owned by the Galvan Foundation.
The situation has always inspired some curiosity about the relationship between Galvan and HCHC. Today, HCHC issued the following statement. It's possible that some of the "recent public speculation" referenced in the statement can be found in comments on this blog.
In light of recent public speculation regarding Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition's occupancy of 47 N. 5th Street, the organization is issuing a statement to clarify its financial relationship with the Galvan Foundation and reaffirm its commitment to independent advocacy.
Contrary to rumors, Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition (HCHC) has not received funding from the Galvan Foundation since 2022. The organization pays $8,000 per month in rent to Galvan for its current office space at 47 N. 5th Street. The property is tax-exempt, and the lease agreement does not include any special subsidy or reduced rate. For transparency purposes, our lease agreement is publicly available via this link.
HCHC's funding comes primarily from national organizations that support grassroots organizing and community power. This structure allows the organization to operate without local political influence and to speak openly on issues affecting tenants and working-class families.
"We believe in transparency and in our responsibility to the communities we serve," said Quintin Cross, Senior Policy Advisor at Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition. "We are able to raise important questions about housing, policy, and public spending because our work is not compromised by conflicting interests."
The Coalition remains focused on advancing policies like Good Cause Eviction and ensuring that all housing projects, public and private, prioritize the well-being of residents. As conversations continue about public investments and accountability in Hudson, HCHC encourages open dialogue grounded in facts and community needs.
For more information, please contact: Larry Blake Harvey at grants@hudsoncatskillhousing.org or (518) 291-9415.
First, credit where credit is due:
ReplyDelete“As conversations continue about public investments and accountability in Hudson, HCHC encourages open dialogue grounded in facts and community needs.”
Well done, Quintin.
We can all agree that Hudson benefits from more accountability, open dialogue, and facts. If you keep this up, you may see even more local donations from new and long-time residents.
Regarding Schedule 1 — thank you for bringing the receipts, as they say. 🧾
Would you mind providing proof of payment in a similar link, the actual receipts? Easy enough to share the ACH, wire, or check confirmation, with the account number partially redacted for banking security. Or ask your CPA to write a letter attesting to the payment quantum and period and share that.
Normally I would not make this request but it is exactly what Kamal is not showing after the Times Union Story by Roger Hannigan Gilson on his potential undisclosed financial benefit from Galvan for the last half decade.
And it is much easier to disclose voluntarily than get subpoenas or donor questions.
Second, who is HCHC’s "fiscal sponsor", as you referenced on Instagram today? Which organization oversees your activities and is the reason, as you claim, that there are no recent HCHC tax filings?
Is your board not the final responsible party?
Third, Kamal and Michelle; your turn as public officers to demonstrate no conflict of interest with Galvan and other housing players in town like Kearney Realty.
P.S. Public officers and 501(c)(3)s must disclose their use of public funds because they serve the public interest, while private individuals and companies have no such obligation as their affairs remain protected by privacy rights. One of the reasons why, I believe, Spark is not a 501c3? Not sure.
This statement raises more questions than it answers. First, if what HCHC is saying is true, $8,000 a month is an insane amount to pay for that space and that location. Prime commercial space on Warren goes for less. Second, that building is indeed “wholly exempt” from the tax rolls and is paying ZERO property taxes. $8,000 a month, plus possibly more from other office space and apartments is a hefty amount of profit for a building assessed at $490,000, yet for some reason is tax exempt. In my opinion, this kind of tax avoidance (possibly fraudulent) is worse than their PILOTs (which get all the attention). The assessor works at the pleasure and direction of the mayor. The same mayor who famously won’t disclose what, if any, rent he pays to Galvan. This all reeks of corruption and it’s not surprising HCHC is distancing themselves from Galvan, and likely the mayor, since it’s clearer every day since the primary that the clock is running out on Kamal’s house of cards.
ReplyDeleteAnother interesting thing is it seems HCHC is in a much stronger financial position than ever before. To be paying $8,000 monthly on their Hudson office, when just over two years ago, they had a huge public spat with Foreland for raising the rent of their Catskill office from $400 to $950. Followed by cries of being displaced, and leading Foreland and their owner to basically shut down their social media because of the blowback led by HCHC. Fast forward to today, HCHC seems to be flushed with funding, likely from “dark money” groups like the Tides Organization, which basically obfuscates donation sources as a pass through entity. But we’ll never know for sure since they haven’t filed IRS Form 990 since 2021 and are on the IRS’s revocation list for 501(c)(3). So if HCHC truly cared about transparency, they’d file those forms and then all can see where the money comes from and also where (or to whom) the money is going. Then they can be evaluated by independent nonprofit auditors like GuideStar, Charity Navigator, ProPublica. Until then, we can only trust them at their word, and knowing their founders, many may find that hard to believe.
Union Jack- Are you saying HCHC is on the IRS's revocation list for 501(c)(3)s?
DeleteYes sir: https://apps.irs.gov/app/eos/details
DeleteEIN: 85-0517756 | United States
Other Names
HUDSON CATSKILL HOUSING COALITION I NC
Auto-Revocation List
Organizations whose federal tax exempt status was automatically revoked for not filing a Form 990-series return or notice for three consecutive years. Important note: Just because an organization appears on this list, it does not mean the organization is currently revoked, as they may have been reinstated.
Exemption Type: 501(c)(3)
Exemption Reinstatement Date:
Revocation Date: 05-15-2024
Revocation Posting Date: 08-12-2024
Does anyone have any insight to why the property would be tax exempt (property taxes?) when the tenant is paying market rent?
ReplyDeleteIf the tenant is for profit, taxes should be assessed on that portion of the building being leased. If the tenant is nonprofit, then the property remains exempt if the exempt purpose is furthered by the tenant AND the amount of rent doesn’t exceed the amount of the carrying, maintenance and depreciation expenses for that portion of the property being leased. (Assuming any/all uses outside of the HCHC lease further the owning entity’s mission and otherwise comply with RPTL 420a).
DeletePerplexing.
DeleteWho is HCHC's "fiscal sponsor"?
QC said in writing that HCHC does not file taxes because it has a fiscal sponsor. But when I asked him directly today when he reached out, he would not say who it is, and he did not seem pleased with the question related to seemingly public information.
Is it legal for a 501(c)(3) that does political work, including endorsing candidates, to keep its fiscal sponsor secret? Possibly? Stranger things have happened in Hudson.
Union Jack was referring to this:
https://www.timesunion.com/hudsonvalley/news/article/hudson-catskill-housing-coalition-foreland-rent-18383225.php
Foreland raised already subsidized rents. HCHC responded with a race-infused social media campaign to cancel its landlord and leaked strategically edited private communications.
It now seems they are doing something similar with Galvan, after today's release of their own surprisingly high rent?
Or do they just have crazy high rent and may spend more in rent than the Spark of Hudson spends on property taxes for their massive building on 502 Union St?
A two-office setup in Hudson should be about $2,000 per month. They could have used Barnfox. Spark of Hudson runs a co-working model that is likely cheaper. Even $4,000 per month would be high and yield 3-4 offices for 2 full-time people? But nearly $100,000 per year, locked in for five to ten years, is unusual for a nonprofit.
That money could instead provide housing for two small families or one larger one, based on current Hudson rents.
What is the link between HCHC, the former Staley B. Keith Center, and the Albany Free School?
Sincere question for a newcomer to town.
Did HCHC absorb the Free School?
https://www.timesunion.com/education/article/albany-free-school-nation-s-oldest-urban-18490354.php
If so, does HCHC’s unnamed fiscal sponsor also influence or control the Free School and its properties?
All three groups seem to have overlapping leadership or founders.
Old Staley B. Keith Center site:
https://web.archive.org/web/20210301191806/http://www.staleybkeith.org/leadership-team.html
Claire Cousins, one of the founders of the HCHC, spent nearly $500,000 running against Didi Barrett last year:
https://ballotpedia.org/Claire_Cousin
For context, this may have been a record, typical contested races see $100k to $200k, and non competitive races see $50k or below.
She also received a $110,000 loan from the For The Many PAC.
Could one of her donors be the fiscal sponsor of HCHC?
Private money and private lives are one thing and should always be respected.
But once you claim nonprofit status, avoid taxes, run for public office, and promise public benefit, the law requires very basic public disclosures.
Especially when you then turn that machine on a small town with 5000 residents and walk national SuperPACs into City Hall and answer (read: silence) reasonable and lawful inquiries as "racism" or "intimidation" and threaten violence.
How can a town the size of an African high school, without any oil or diamonds, have so many politicos, not-for-profits and shell companies?
Will Galvan's disappearance from Hudson change all this or will it stay the same?
Indeed- something is afoul. The link to the so called lease goes to a page titled Schedule 1.
ReplyDeleteThat's not a lease!! This statement from Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition (HCHC) is like shouting "nothing to hide here then running behind a screen of smoke, a curtain, a wall, and then a mountain." Then claiming to be totally transparent. ABSURD!!!