> May 21, 2005 > > Peace group has big plans for Black Dirt > > By John Sullivan > Times Herald-Record > They own their own city, have their own government and print > their own currency. > They want to make people physically and spiritually healthy by > feeding them organically grown food. > They believe Transcendental Meditation and flying yogis can > promote world peace. > Town of Goshen residents, welcome your new neighbors. > Global Country of World Peace, the international nonprofit > organization founded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, the spiritual leader > who taught the Beatles how to meditate, recently bought 818 acres of > Black Dirt farmland in Goshen from three local landowners. ***************
Local legislators want the TMO to pay taxes, like they do in another New York site, Livingston Manor, as well as they did in Boone, North Carolina: http://www.recordonline.com/archive/2005/05/22/cwblackd.htm May 22, 2005 Nonprofit welcomed But told to dust off its checkbook for taxes By Christian M. Wade Times Herald-Record [EMAIL PROTECTED] Goshen � Tom Pahucki has a message for the Town of Goshen's newest neighbors: We welcome you with open arms, but be prepared to tip the local tax coffers. Global Country of World Peace, a global nonprofit organization founded by the spiritual leader Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, recently bought 818 acres of Black Dirt farmland in Goshen from three local landowners. The group plans to use the fertile black soil to grow organic vegetables for sale on the open market in New York City. Pahucki, an Orange County Legislator whose district encompasses the black dirt region, said yesterday that he plans to fight the tax- exempt group's proposal not to pay taxes on the land, saying the move would hurt the town, farmers and schools. "I would love to see a large-scale organic farming operation in town, but they're going to have to bring their checkbook along, just like everybody else," he said. Pahucki said he and other county and town officials, including Goshen town Councilman Ken Newbold, will push to keep the farmland on the tax rolls. Richard Quinn, the group's representative, could not be reached for comment. Quinn said previously that the sale also includes a cropduster airport, administrative and storage buildings, packing facilities and a work camp for about 300 workers. The group plans to build a local institute to teach organic farming techniques. The big question is how much money in tax revenue the town stands to lose if the group is granted a tax-exempt status. Neither Pahucki nor the group's representative could say how much the land generates in school and property taxes. Steve Perfit, the Kingston real estate agent who brokered the deal, said Global Country paid $4 million in cash for the 42 parcels of land west of Pulaski Highway and the Wallkill River, between Pumpkin Swamp Road and Indiana Road. Pahucki said he will be discussing the issue with the group this week, but vowed to take his fight to state and federal levels if they cannot agree to a compromise. "We've got farmers out there who scrape and take food off their tables to make those tax payments every year to local schools, the town and county," Pahucki said. Headquartered in Vedic City, Iowa, Global Country had $2.9 million in assets in 2001, according to the group's public tax records. The group has nonprofits that generate millions of dollars for the organization's mission of achieving world peace. Maharishi Vedic Organic Products, the group's agricultural arm, will start with 75 acres in Goshen and work up to full production in phases, Quinn said. The nonprofit has a farm in Vedic City that serves the Chicago organic food market, Quinn said. To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
