For over a year, we fought tooth-and-nail against a massive property tax break for an Amazon mega-warehouse in central Orange County. First as a 20-year, over $100 million giveaway and, after pressure, a 15-year, over $80 million property tax break, either proposal was pure corporate welfare and far more in subsidies than needed to competitively locate the project. Our community and I are grateful for the state-appointed monitor’s action late last year that vetoed this giveaway following the Orange County Industrial Development Agency’s (OCIDA) anti-taxpayer decision to approve this unvetted, unwarranted proposal.
To be perfectly clear, Amazon doesn’t need or deserve a single penny of incentives. Unfortunately, neither the federal nor state government has done the right thing and prohibited property tax breaks for warehouse projects like this one. Until then, we live in an environment whereby large companies can come into communities, make demands, and threaten to take construction and post-construction jobs elsewhere to other communities that give them what they want. It is therefore left up to agencies to judge what an appropriate incentive looks like. Far too often, both the state and, locally, the OCIDA, have failed this basic yet critical responsibility.
This is why I fought so hard to embed a watchdog with veto power at the IDA. And why I fight unvetted proposed giveaways like the 20-year and 15-year ones to Amazon.
In recent weeks, we were finally successful in driving Amazon back to the negotiating table. The end result is a major improvement, extracting $30+ million in additional payments from Amazon to our community from what they tried to get away with – and they will pay full property taxes 10 years sooner than Amazon initially sought. This is more money to our school district, local infrastructure, and law enforcement – funding that local taxpayers would’ve had to make up if not for our relentless efforts.
Furthermore, Amazon will lock in a project labor agreement (PLA) with Hudson Valley construction trades, ensuring millions of additional dollars in union wages will stay right where they belong: in our community. According to economic development officials, this is Amazon’s first and only PLA anywhere in the northeast – ever.
Finally, and importantly, an amendment to the Orange County IDA’s policies will be advanced this month. Once adopted, the IDA will be prohibited from offering any PILOT property tax breaks to any warehouse moving forward, a major reform I’ve long advocated for. Our county is overrun with warehouses in large part because the IDA has consistently robbed taxpayers on behalf of these projects. The era of warehouse giveaways in Orange County is officially over.
