Tag: Subsidies

Dec 22

2014

Suppression of Buffalo Billion spending records

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo wants everyone to know he’s spending $1 billion to revitalize the Western New York economy. But the bureaucrats he’s charged with managing the Buffalo Billion are refusing to account for how they are spending $855 million earmarked for the program’s big-ticket projects. Three developers, all significant contributors to Cuomo’s gubernatorial campaign, have been selected to build and equip facilities that will house companies recruited to set up shop in Buffalo. But the state-affiliated non-profit corporation managing that work has refused to release contracts and other documents to Investigative Post that detail, among other things, how the contractors[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 12

2014

Another round of tax breaks for Summit Mall

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Declaring “jobs are jobs,” Niagara County officials voted Wednesday to grant $700,000 in tax breaks to redevelop a shopping mall that’s failed to make good on two previous subsidies. The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency voted unanimously to approve property and sales tax breaks to Toronto developer Zoran Cocov to assist his $17.4 million plan to revitalize Summit Mall in Wheatfield. Cocov’s application promises “entertainment venues” – museums and theaters – as well as shops, restaurants, a regional wine tasting outlet, a farmers’ market and a small business incubator, as reported Tuesday by Investigative Post. They would be joined by[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Nov 11

2014

Subsidies proposed for shopping mall

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Should the Summit Mall in Wheatfield enjoy a third round of taxpayer subsidies? The Niagara County Industrial Development Agency will consider a proposal Wednesday from a Toronto developer that calls for about $700,000 in property and sales tax breaks. The subsidies would go towards a $17 million renovation of the mall, which now stands largely vacant. State law generally prohibits industrial development agencies from granting tax breaks to retail projects, but the developer is contending its proposed mix of tenants would attract visitors from outside the region. Previous mall developers received about $2 million in tax breaks. Jim Heaney and[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 29

2014

Sabres score big subsidies at HarborCenter

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The Buffalo Sabres like to point out that HarborCenter, which opens later this week, is privately financed to the tune of $172.2 million. Left unsaid is that the complex is also publicly subsidized, enjoying an estimated $57 million in local and state tax breaks. That makes HarborCenter one of the most heavily subsidized downtown development projects in recent history. The project – which includes two ice rinks, a hotel, two restaurants, shops and a parking ramp – is projected to employ the equivalent of around 425 full-time workers. The $57 million in tax breaks works out to about $134,000 per[...]

Posted 9 years ago

Oct 9

2014

SolarCity’s shaky foundation

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo is investing $750 million of taxpayer funds and the hopes of a community desperate for an economic recovery in a company that is losing money, weathering two federal investigations and facing, by its own admission, an uncertain economic future. To hear Cuomo tell it, the construction of a solar panel manufacturing plant operated by SolarCity Corp. will be a “game changer,” a catalyst to reviving the Western New York economy. Indeed, the company is regarded as a leader in the burgeoning solar energy industry, has acquired promising technology to manufacture solar panels and has enjoyed soaring stock[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Sep 23

2014

SolarCity deal is a rich subsidy package

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My first blush impressions of the SolarCity deal announced Tuesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo: It’s a rich package. The state is committing $750 million – $350 million to build a manufacturing plant and $400 million in potentially forgivable loans to equip it – in exchange for creating 3,000 jobs, half of which would be employed by SolarCity, the other at firms in their supply chain. That works out to $250,000 to $500,000 per job, depending on how you do the math. By comparison, the subsidy package cobbled together to lure the Yahoo! data center in Lockport five years ago involved[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Sep 18

2014

SolarCity shakedown?

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo last fall pledged $225 million to build and equip a clean energy hub along Buffalo’s waterfront. It was good enough for Silevo, a solar panel manufacturer, and Soraa, the makers of high-efficiency light bulbs. It apparently isn’t good enough for SolarCity, however, which bought Silevo in June. Cuomo has subsequently suggested it’s going to take a richer incentive package to bring SolarCity into the fold and press reports indicate at least two other states are in the hunt for the solar panel plant that is penciled in for Buffalo. Given the track record of SolarCity Chairman Elon[...]

Posted 10 years ago

Jun 18

2014

Solar jobs, entrepreneur headed to Buffalo

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SolarCity is buying Silevo, which last fall announced plans to bring 475 jobs to the city under the Buffalo Billion Program. SolarCity is a much bigger operator and has plans to increase the planned manufacturing plant’s capacity five-fold, which would make it among the largest such facilities in the nation. More jobs are also anticipated, a total of anywhere from 1,000 to 2,500. Beyond the jobs, SolarCity brings noted entrepreneur Elon Musk, whose ventures have included PayPal, Tesla Motors and SpaceX. Will the larger manufacturing capacity necessitate the state upping its $225 million investment to build and equip the clean energy[...]

Posted 10 years ago
Investigative Post

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