ARTFUL ZONING IN THE HUDSON VALLEY On September 8, 2016, I attended the Orange County Chamber of Commerce breakfast to hear a great presentation by my partner, Gary Schuster, and Adam Demchak from Polich/Tallix Foundry, discussing the economic and cultural benefits associated with the many creative arts associated businesses, entrepreneurs, artists and non-profits operating in…
Nonprofit Contributions: Aiming at Dark Money, but Hitting Nonprofits Governor Cuomo has just signed into law a measure intended to shine light on so-called “dark money” contributions to political candidates by some nonprofit organizations. The law was immediately criticized by a wide array of nonprofit and other groups as both overbroad and inadequate. The law…
Someone’s In the Kitchen Cooking shows on TV like Chopped, Iron Chef, and Hell’s Kitchen are all the rage. Everyone seems to want to be a chef. Here in the Hudson Valley we are blessed to have the Culinary Institute of America, which turns out truly talented chefs every year. Many of these choose to…
ZOOM IS TOO FAST The glossy advertisements and promotion for using Legal Zoom evidence that going too fast isn’t the best choice. Going the cheapest is also dangerous. Establishing an entity for a new business is much more than filing forms. There are many important decisions that should be part of any business entity formation….
Dispute Resolution: 7 Typical Provisions for Contract Negotiations When parties sit down to hammer out their commercial contracts, often left to the end as an afterthought is a dispute resolution mechanism. The optimal time to create strategies to avoid the time, expense and adverse business consequences of traditional litigation is before any dispute arises. In…
NEW Overtime Regulations: Is Your Business Impacted by NEW Overtime Eligibility Regulations? To ensure that the intended overtime protections of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) are fully implemented, the Department of Labor has updated its regulations. Employers have until December 1, 2016 to comply with a new federal overtime standard that will drastically increase…
New STAR Rebate Program There’s a new STAR Rebate Program. The STAR Exemption (lower property assessment) is being phased out and replaced by the STAR Credit (rebate check). If you are currently receiving a STAR Exemption, you do not have to register for the STAR Credit. You will continue to receive the Star Exemption….
Now Is Your Last Chance To See If You Are Overpaying Your Property Taxes in 2016-2017 Challenging your tax assessment is a process. There are deadlines, research, necessary documentation and forms, rules, and property history that need to be considered. Don’t be scared away from considering this because it may appear complicated. We can simplify…
New Family Paid Leave Law New York State has adopted a new Family Leave Law that is funded by payroll deduction from employees’ salaries and is mandatory regardless of the size of the employer. One supporting rationale has been that the United States is the only industrialized country in the world without paid family leave….
The DOL Fiduciary Rule – From the Opposition’s Point of View The proposed United States Department of Labor (“DOL”) fiduciary rule has earned itself many enemies. A coalition against the rule was formed in October 2015 and is pushing hard to stop the rule from being enacted. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and Primerica are…
