Categories for Analysis

May 3

2023

Big shakeup at the besieged OTB

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The embattled Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. is finally getting reformed. In a big way. The state public benefit corporation — mired in allegations of malfeasance and subject to multiple critical audits and investigations — saw its entire 17-member board of commissioners terminated Tuesday night, thanks to a budget provision sponsored by Sen. Tim Kennedy of Buffalo and Assembly Member Monica Wallace of Lancaster, both Democrats.  New board members will be appointed and weighted voting instituted to reflect the population of the 15 counties and two cities that in-effect own OTB. That will shift control from mostly rural counties controlled[...]

Posted 12 months ago

Apr 26

2023

Big subsidies for factory rehab in Tonawanda

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A century ago, tusks from thousands of elephants from Africa — dug up from graveyards or collected by hunters — made their way to a Town of Tonawanda factory complex where the Wood & Brooks Company used them to make piano keys. Closed by the 1970s, the factory complex on Kenmore Avenue today is “substantially vacant” according to a developer who wants to rehabilitate two of the property’s dozen buildings into business incubator space and 55 apartments. The developer, Michael Wopperer, has estimated the project will cost $23 million. He hopes to complete the redevelopment by the fall of 2024.[...]

Posted 12 months ago

Apr 12

2023

Holes in oversight of Bills stadium deal

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Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and his top aides like to say the community benefits agreement accompanying the deal for a new Buffalo Bills stadium is among the “best” and “strongest” CBAs ever committed to paper. “This is the best CBA ever negotiated with any NFL team,” Erie County Attorney Jeremy Toth told Investigative Post this week. But a close examination of the CBA, along with interviews with experts and the officials who negotiated the agreement, reveals at least two ways the deal could fall short of those lofty pronouncements. For one, a yet-to-be-formed Community Benefits Oversight Committee made up[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Apr 6

2023

Experts: Stadium CBA comes up short

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According to experts, the community benefits agreement for the new Buffalo Bills stadium lacks key provisions that are common to successful CBAs elsewhere. That’s partly by design. The CBA for the Bills stadium, announced Wednesday, is the first such agreement for a major project in Erie County. It calls for the team to commit $3 million annually over 30 years to fund projects that benefit the community. That’s in exchange for a $850 million public contribution to the $1.5 billion stadium. But the deal does not specify how that money should be spent, leaving those decisions up to an oversight[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Mar 30

2023

Podcast: Buffalo’s Common Council candidates

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One thing is certain: Buffalo’s Common Council will soon change. Two members of the current Council — Council President Darius G. Pridgen of the Ellicott District and Masten District’s Ulysees O. Wingo — will not seek re-election. Several candidates are looking to fill those seats, gathering signatures to earn a spot in the June Democratic primary election. There are other candidates looking to challenge Council incumbents, as well. Investigative Post’s Geoff Kelly took a closer look at the candidates and how Buffalo’s Common Council may change. Kelly sat down with Garrett Looker, host of Reporter’s Notebook, to dive into who[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Mar 22

2023

Not much change afoot for Common Council

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There will be a pair of new faces on Buffalo’s Common Council next year, the result of two incumbents declining to run for reelection. That’s probably as much change as Buffalonians will be permitted — or choose — to vote for. In five of the nine Council districts, the incumbents appear to face no challengers in the June Democratic primary, which generally determines the victor in this one-party town. In the two districts where incumbents face opposition, the challengers face steep odds.  The last time an incumbent lost reelection to Buffalo’s Common Council was 20 years ago. That was when[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Mar 20

2023

Moog seeking 14th tax subsidy from IDA

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 Moog Inc., one of Western New York’s largest employers, is a highly profitable company, netting $155 million last year alone. That’s partly due to the billions in federal defense contracts it’s landed over the past decade. Yet time and time again — 13 times since 1973 — Moog has gone before the Erie County Industrial Development Agency seeking — and receiving — millions in tax breaks. It’s received nearly $10 million in subsidies since 2006. The company is headed back to the IDA on Wednesday asking for a 14th round of subsidies. Moog’s request for $2.9 million in sales[...]

Posted 1 year ago

Feb 28

2023

City keeping $3.6M of other people’s money

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In 2019, the City of Buffalo sold 103 properties seized for nonpayment of taxes and fees.  The annual auction yielded $4.3 million that year, far more than the $700,000 the former owners of those properties owed the city. Those former owners were supposed to be able to apply for their share of the surplus $3.6 million — which represents their remaining equity in those properties — through a program developed by the city’s law department and published on the city’s website in late 2021.  Many former property owners filed claims. None received any money, as Investigative Post reported in October. [...]

Posted 1 year ago
Investigative Post

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