State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has helped broker a deal that will put a temporary end to skyrocketing taxes in North Rockland and help the environment.

The deal came about from a situation relating to energy company Mirant. Mirant's Lovett Station in Stony Point and Bowline Plant in Haverstraw were over-assessed for years. The company was then owed big refunds from towns and villages, as well as the North Rockland School District. The impact was devastating to homeowners and North Rockland's school budget.

Under the new deal, Mirant will pay $1 million to North Rockland for energy conservation projects. They have also agreed not to challenge the 2007-2008 tax assessment for the towns of Haverstraw and Stony Point.In an environmental aspect of the deal, Mirant will also shut down one of its coal-burning units. That move is expected to reduce emissions by 50 percent.

?It's a great thing for the people of Haverstraw and Stony Point who have been so unmercifully hammered with tax increases on their property,? said state Senator Thomas Morahan (R-New City), who brought the situation to Cuomo?s attention.

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