Tired of tax abatements: Occupy Buffalo and NY state reps @ ECIDA 2012-02-13

Lots of people, from Occupy Buffalo to at least one New York state representative, are tired of tax abatements doled out by ECIDA (the Erie County Industrial Development Agency, aka The Economic Development Corporation for Erie County). ECIDA thinks it knows better. Sound familiar?

Occupy Buffalo complained to ECIDA about tax abatements for luxury residential lofts that had already been completed, saying “this board is not a democratic process”. They noted the people’s representative on the ECIDA board had said it was a clear waste of taxpayer resources but was ignored, and couldn’t stop county resources being “fleeced by this board”. They added, “This experiment has gone on for long enough, and it’s time for immediate change” of “this crony corrupt process”. Occupy Buffalo demanded suspension of tax abatements by ECIDA until a public town hall meeting could be held.

Here’s the video:

Tired of tax abatements: Occupy Buffalo and NY state reps @ ECIDA 2012-02-13

Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, .
Video by for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE).

Occupy Buffalo wrote 16 February 2012, Occupy Buffalo and the Erie County Industrial Development Agency,

On 2/13 we made the local news for multiple mic checks which demanded an immediate moratorium on all tax abatement deals until the ECIDA holds a town hall meeting to create a process for evaluating which companies qualify for tax incentives. We would like to discuss terms for these tax incentives which would hold companies accountable if they do not create the number of jobs promised. Furthermore, we would like to see clawback clauses written into these deals which would require a payback of all tax incentives if a company abandons the area after getting one of these tax breaks. This would ensure that the taxpayers of Erie County, NY are not shortchanged when a company leaves town.

Our direct action at the ECIDA contributed to the tabling of a $275,000 tax break for the $5.5 million renovation of the Millennium Hotel.

ECIDA also changes its meeting location at the last minute.

Does any of this sound familiar? For example, the $5,448,867 tax abatement VLCIA promised CCA for its private prison? A project for which VLCIA is completely unapologetic? They’re not even apologetic about the biomass plant, for that matter.

At least one elected state representative is tired of such tax abatements. Sandra Tan wrote for the Buffalo News 22 April 2012, Bad breaks given by IDAs? As a state lawmaker drafts a bill that would handicap town IDAs, those groups defend the deals they make,

Local IDA leaders say they aren’t sorry, even though any system can be improved.

County leaders say enough is enough.

Meanwhile, Assemblyman Sean Ryan, with the backing of Poloncarz and some high-profile business organizations, is preparing to introduce a bill that would severely hobble the local IDAs’ ability to grant tax abatements or incentives….

It’s difficult to quantify how communities benefit from such projects. With the exception of Amherst, local IDAs do not routinely calculate or keep track of the total estimated tax break package offered for individual projects. Lancaster, Clarence and Concord were unable to provide The News such estimates, though The News was able to independently calculate estimates in some cases.

Hey, around here we don’t even know what the projects are. Despite both former VLCIA Chair Jerry Jennett and current Chair Roy Copeland promising me going on a year ago to get LAKE a list of successful VLCIA projects and numbers of jobs created by each, which they said they had already drawn up, where is it? I haven’t seen it.

Maybe it’s in those minutes they refuse to publish.

VLCIA says it is going to start at strategic planning process. Maybe it will include all parties and have real discussion. That would be refreshing around here.

Back to the Buffalo News article:

Allen, of the Amherst IDA, said county officials can whine about “questionable” Amherst projects approved by his agency, but their opinion isn’t what should matter.

“They say it’s questionable. Well, I don’t,” he said. “My board doesn’t. That’s part of our master plan — put vacant buildings and brownfields back on the tax rolls.”

If a strategy pursued by an elected or appointed board is so great, let’s see them explain that to the public, including what benefits we have derived from projects they have funded or provided tax abatements for. With questions from the public in a public process.

-jsq