The Greece School Board is taking a stand against proposed tax breaks for
the Greece Ridge Mall.
The county Industrial Development Agency is proposing a plan that would
limit future property tax increases on the mall for 25 years. The mall’s owner,
a subsidiary of Wilmorite, plans to reconfigure the former Bon-Ton space into
several smaller units.
Last night, the school board passed a resolution opposing the incentive plan. Other local
governments have protested COMIDA-proposed incentives before and with little
luck. Whether the Greece School Board’s opposition has any effect remains to be
seen, though it gave its attorneys the go-ahead to take legal action if COMIDA
approves the incentives, the Democrat and Chronicle reports.
The board’s action brings attention to a key complaint critics have of New
York’s IDA’s: local governments don’t really have a
say in whether a business gets tax breaks. COMIDA documents say that the school district’s position will be
taken into consideration, but COMIDA officials don’t have an obligation to
reject the tax breaks because the district opposes them.
This article appears in 2012 Jazz Fest Guide.
