In a rare event, the Erie County Industrial Development Agency on Wednesday effectively rejected a tax break application for Iskalo Development Corp. and its tenant, Top Seedz, after both acknowledged that the project was so far along that it would go forward even without assistance.
The ECIDA board voted 8-3 in favor of the tax breaks, but the resolution required 10 affirmative votes in order to pass, so it ultimately failed. That hasn’t happened in years, as projects are usually vetted by the agency staff, which discourages applicants from continuing to the board level if they believe the project would be rejected.
The News’ Buffalo Next team covers the changing Buffalo Niagara economy. Get the news in your inbox 5 days a week.
The opposition was led by Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and Richard Lipsitz, ECIDA vice chair and Western New York Area Labor Federation president emeritus. They argued that if the project would advance regardless, it didn’t need or deserve taxpayer assistance. Also voting against the project was Denise Abbott, president of the Buffalo AFL-CIO Labor Council.
“It is my opinion that projects that come before the IDA be sufficient to justify their needs and that there is a need for the incentive,” Poloncarz told fellow board members. “If the project is going to move forward on its own, providing a tax incentive is putting a cherry on top of the sundae that is going to be eaten anyway.”
Top Seedz founder and CEO Rebecca Brady, who spoke to the board in an effort to…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply