Hicksville Self-Storage Firm Lowers Job Pledge, Keeps Tax Break

HICKSVILLE, NY — A self-storage real-estate investment trust that received a 15-year tax break after buying a Hicksville property has backtracked on its employment commitment.

Life Storage bought the property on John Street, near Wyckoff Street, in 2013 and promised to hire 3.5 full-time equivalent positions in exchange for tax incentives, Newsday reported. But the company last year asked Nassau County's Industrial Development Agency to sign off on a change allowing it to drop that number to three full-time equivalent positions and reduce its payroll "based on changing business operations,"Kate White, senior vice president of human resources, told Newsday.

"We appreciate the support of the Nassau IDA and look forward to continuing to do business in the Hicksville community," she said.

The IDA board approved the change in November.

Richard Kessel, chairman of the IDA, confirmed the change to Patch on Thursday. He said the project was awarded benefits from the previous IDA, and that the new board no longer grants tax breaks to self-storage projects.

Patch has reached out to Life Storage for comment and will update when we hear back.