Alex White, the Green Party’s candidate for mayor, unveiled his education plan at a brief press conference yesterday. Given that White’s opponent, Democrat Lovely Warren, has made education the cornerstone of her campaign, White had to sa y something on the topic. But his plan is really a repackaged version of the Green Party’s fight […]
COMIDA
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Officials will meet on Medley Centre issues
Next Friday, Medley Centre owner and developer Scott Congel will be in a room with representatives of the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency, the Town of Irondequoit, and the East Irondequoit School District. On the agenda: Congel’s failure to meet the most recent milestone in a tax incentive agreement. Congel requested the meeting, says Michael […]
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COMIDA approves tax breaks for Midtown tower
The County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency unanimously approved tax breaks this afternoon for developers of Midtown tower and other projects. The Midtown arrangement has attracted criticism from people who say it’s another example of the government giving away the store to deep-pocketed developers. Midtown tower is being redeveloped for office, retail, and residential by […]
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Week Ahead: Public safety money up for grabs, filling the inner loop, COMIDA projects, lake levels
Rochester Mayor Tom Richards will hold the first of four Voice of the Citizen — Budgeting for Public Safety forums from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, August 26, at the Edgerton Community Center Stardust Ballroom, 41 Backus Street. The city has set aside $200,000 in its current budget for residents to use for […]
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Xerox chooses Webster for toner plant
Xerox will expand its Webster toner plant, with the help of taxpayer-funded incentives. Empire State Development, the state’s economic development agency, announced Xerox’s decision via press release yesterday afternoon. The company was considering several locations for the plant, though Webster was the only US site on the list. Xerox plans to invest $5 million to […]
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COMIDA approves Xerox benefits
This morning, the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency’s board approved a package of property and sales tax incentives for Xerox. Xerox sought the incentive for a potential expansion of its Webster toner production plant. Under the package, Xerox would get approximately $441,500 worth of tax breaks over a 10-year period. The company says it’ll create […]
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COMIDA to vote on Xerox incentives next week
Next week, the Monroe County Industrial Development Agency will hold two additional hearings on Xerox’s application for property and sales tax incentives on a potential expansion project at the company’s toner plant in Webster. And at 11 a.m. on Thursday, July 25, COMIDA will meet to vote on the proposal (the location is forthcoming and […]
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The Empire Zone strikes back
The Medley Centre project in Irondequoit isn’t held in high esteem by the public. Neither were the state’s Empire Zones — businesses in these designated areas were entitled to tax incentives. Even state officials agreed the zones were so flawed the whole system had to be junked. But combined, Medley and the zone program make […]
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Medley Centre’s long odds
The biggest and possibly only physical change happening at Irondequoit’s beleaguered Medley Centre mall seems to be the grass growing through the cracks in the parking lot. That shouldn’t be the case. By now, Medley developer Scott Congel is supposed to have invested $165 million toward his vision of turning the dead mall into a […]
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Comptroller: Medley created zero jobs in 2011
It’s time to beat on Medley Centre again. The state Comptroller’s Office just released a report on statewide industrial development activity in 2011. The report devotes a fair amount of space to exemptions for retail projects, which it says have increased each year since 2007. Prior to 2008, a provision of state law prohibited IDA’s […]
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Week Ahead: RCSD budget, College Town groundbreaking, active transportation summit, food truck in Henrietta?
This is an updated version. The Rochester school board will meet at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 2, for a final review of Superintendent Bolgen Vargas’s proposed budget for the 2013 to 2014 school year. This could be the last opportunity for board members to listen to parents, teachers, and students about the impact of […]
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[UPDATED] Week Ahead: College Town grocer wants tax breaks; learn about the Common Core; RCSD budget meeting
Update, Tuesday, April 16: According to a spokesperson for Monroe County, Meliora Provision Co. pulled its application from this month’s COMIDA agenda because they are still working out details with College Town’s developer. The company looking to build a grocery store in the future College Town project on Mount Hope wants sales and mortgage tax […]
