The County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency is expected to vote on a controversial incentives package for a Brighton hotel during its May 15 meeting.

The agenda for the meeting hasn't been released yet, but incentives for Brighton Lodging Associates LLC will likely be on the list; other steps, including a public hearing, have been cleared. The COMIDA board will meet at noon at the Ebenezer Watts Conference Center, 49 South Fitzhugh Street. The agenda will be available to the public on May 14, says Judy Seil, COMIDA's interim executive director.

Brighton Lodging plans to buy and renovate the Wellesley Inn, at 797 East Henrietta Road. The firm could be granted $348,000 in sales, mortgage, and property-tax exemptions, says Seil. The property-tax incentive would provide an exemption on any increase in assessed value for 10 years.

In its application, the company says it will create five new jobs. COMIDA estimates that the project will generate $373,000 in economic benefits for the community during the 10 years that it receives the benefits, says Seil. The economic benefits grow over time, says Seil, and the incentives give businesses a way to recoup some of their investment.

But in Brighton - which would be deprived of the property tax revenue - the package has drawn fire from some residents and town officials.

On April 11, the Brighton Town Board issued a resolution condemning the package, saying it believes the jobs created don't warrant the benefits. The Town Board also reiterated calls for a greater role in the COMIDA process, something the board had asked for six months earlier.

The property-tax exemptions add up, says Brighton Town Board member Ray Tierney, who has spoken out against COMIDA projects in Brighton in the past. Tierney often cites 2005 statistics indicating that the town lost taxes equivalent to those paid by 142 average-value homes. The Brighton school district fared even worse, he says, losing about $400,000.

At an April 24 public hearing, critics leveled a variety of charges at COMIDA and the Brighton Lodging proposal. Brighton School Board member Rome Celli said COMIDA officials should discuss proposed projects with school districts before offering the incentives.

Tierney charged that part of Brighton Lodging's COMIDA application was incomplete and that part of it was incorrect. And he and other speakers charged that the company has twice lost COMIDA benefits for violating local labor requirements.

Brighton Lodging representative Minesh Patel admitted that on the application for the Henrietta hotel, he failed to list another business owned by his company that received COMIDA benefits. And he agreed about the local-labor problem.

"We messed up big time," said Patel. "We hired a contractor that was out of state that promised us some local labor. And you know what? He didn't deliver."

This time, he said, he will work with local contractors.

Tierney also took issue with the way the April 24 hearing was run. A large crowd turned out to speak against the incentive package. But the speakers were greeted not by COMIDA board members, but by Seil and COMIDA attorney Mike Townsend. Seil says the law doesn't require board members to be present at public hearings. She acts as the hearing officer and reports the comments back to the board, she said in an interview last week.

As for the proposal itself: "This is not a hotel that's distressed," Tierney said at the hearing. "This is in one of the hottest markets in all of Rochester." The East Henrietta Road hotel is close to the University of Rochester, Strong Memorial Hospital, the airport, Monroe Community College, and Rochester Institute of Technology.

"We're giving money to something the marketplace will take care of," Tierney said.

Patel countered that while the hotel is in a great location, it lacks facilities that customers want, like a swimming pool. The rooms "are dated beyond belief," he said.

At the public hearing, Patel said he wasn't sure how many jobs the project will actually create. He said he will probably have to hire some higher-level executives to run the hotels that Brighton Lodging owns. Right now, he said, he is sharing staff with other hotels owned by the company.

Metro Justice executive Greenbaum, whose organization has pushed for years for reforms to COMIDA, calls the Brighton Lodging application "the perfect example of why we need statewide reform of the IDA system." Reforms should focus on business standards, accountability, and transparency, he says.

COMIDA, he says, is granting too many benefits for too little return.