Francesca Olsen in The Register-Star reports that the Widewaters Group will only put a Kohl's and TJ Maxx stores in the Greenport Commons if the county gives them giant tax breaks. “The opportunity does not exist without the PILOT,” said Marco J. Marzocchi, General Counsel of Retail Development for the Widewaters Group, threatening the Columbia County Board of Supervisors for a 20-year Payment in Lieu of Taxes, or PILOT, exemption. The Kohl's could, the company projects, provide 125 "associate" jobs, 30 percent of those full-time in the giant new strip mall that currently hosts a Wal-Mart, Lowe's, and Applebee's.

ccScoop now has a story explaining the situation more clearly here.