Articles for J. Dale Shoemaker

Jul 13

2023

Company seeking subsidies circulates fake study

A plastics manufacturer seeking tax breaks to build a plant in Lockport has put its application on hold after being called out Thursday for circulating a summary of a study that was fabricated and produced by artificial intelligence. Prior to a public hearing Thursday, the India-based firm SRI CV Plastics, seeking $312,000 in subsidies from the Lockport Industrial Development Agency, provided the agency’s board a one-page summary of a study that touted the safety of PVC pipes, one of the products the company plans to make at the plant. A University at Buffalo professor, Lourdes Vera, called out the company’s[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jul 11

2023

Risks vs. benefits of proposed Lockport plant

An India-based plastics company is seeking to build its first U.S. plant in the Town of Lockport, despite strong objections from environmental groups who argue such a facility could harm human health and the environment. But the plant’s potential ecological impact isn’t the only issue up for debate: The firm wants tax breaks, and could further benefit from a limited environmental review. SRI CV Plastics Inc. is seeking $500,000 in subsidies, including $311,856 from the Lockport Industrial Development Agency, to build a $2.3 million, 14,000-square foot factory in the Lockport Industrial Park. The firm’s CEO, Varunkumar Velumani, said he plans[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 29

2023

Yet another subsidy for local meatball maker

A West Seneca-based frozen food manufacturer — the rumored maker of Olive Garden’s meatballs — won yet another tax break from the Erie County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday, its third since 2016. And that’s not counting six previous low-interest loans the IDA has granted to Rosina Food Products dating to 1981. The company manufactures frozen Italian food products, including meatballs, ravioli and pizza toppings. In a unanimous vote, the IDA board of directors approved $749,000 in property, sales and mortgage tax breaks for Rosina. Executives said the company will use the tax breaks to renovate and expand two buildings[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 27

2023

Council nixes grant to downtown grocery

The Buffalo Common Council on Tuesday voted down a request for a $563,000 loan for the Braymiller Market, a downtown grocery store that’s previously received subsidies and other public assistance. The proposed funding drew outcry from some residents who argued that if the city was going to spend COVID-19 relief funding on a grocery store, it ought to support a store on the East Side, rather than downtown. That issue, the lack of supermarkets on the East Side, was highlighted after last year’s attack on the Tops on Jefferson Avenue, which caused the store to close for several months. The[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 9

2023

Tax subsidy reforms stall in Albany

New York state lawmakers were poised to end the 2023 legislative session Friday with no action on a pair of bills that would have drastically reformed the state’s 107 industrial development agencies. Industrial development agencies, or IDAs, are public benefit corporations that have the power to grant property, sales and mortgage tax breaks to corporations who apply for those benefits, often in exchange for creating new jobs. The eight counties of Western New York have 15 IDAs at both the county and municipal levels. One bill, sponsored by Senator Sean Ryan, a Buffalo Democrat, would have barred IDAs from granting[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Jun 1

2023

The false promises of IDA subsidies

In order for Western New York’s economy to remain stable, economic development officials argue that industrial development agencies need to grant tax breaks and other incentives. “People just aren’t going to build here unless they have incentives to help them to do that,” Mark Onesi, chair of the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency, told Investigative Post last year. “It’s expensive to do business here so we help as many people as we can.” Research, however, refutes those assertions. Economists have found between 75 and 90 percent of jobs created with tax breaks would have happened without the help.  “The system[...]

Posted 2 years ago

May 31

2023

IDA tax breaks cost schools millions

 Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories on industrial development agencies. Tomorrow, we report on “perverse incentives” and other shortcomings in IDA programs. Any time Susan McGee’s children want to join an activity outside of the classroom — be it sports, music or other extracurriculars — it means one thing: a fundraiser. Raising money for extracurriculars may seem routine for a small, struggling Rust Belt city like Dunkirk, where McGee’s children attend school. But there’s another factor at play: The Dunkirk City School District loses out on an average of $5 million in revenue every year thanks[...]

Posted 2 years ago

May 15

2023

‘Inappropriate and questionable spending’ at IDA

A state review of the Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency has found more than $250,000 of “inappropriate and questionable discretionary spending,” including costly holiday parties and membership to a golf club. Among other issues, the draft review by the Authorities Budget Office obtained by Investigative Post found: The IDA’s chief financial officer, Richard Dixon, was reimbursed $30,600 for use of his personal vehicle and $18,429 for a membership and other expenses at a local golf club. CEO Mark Geise, Dixon and other staff used IDA credit cards to pay for $26,000 in “inappropriate meal purchases.” The agency made more than[...]

Posted 2 years ago
Investigative Post