Amherst IDA approves tax help for controversial medical office

[WNYresident]

Amherst IDA approves tax help for controversial medical office

The Amherst Industrial Development Agency this morning approved $190,000 in tax breaks for a controversial pediatric urgent care facility on Maple Road that had failed to win the agency's support late last month.
On its second time before the IDA, board members voted, 5-2, to approve the tax breaks after learning that the value of the property tax savings will be 61 percent less than originally estimated because of a new, higher assessment on the property that was issued earlier this week.
The IDA deadlocked, 3-3, last month on the tax breaks for the $2.7 million project to build pediatric urgent care facility in a former church at 1800 Maple Road, after critics, including Amherst Supervisor Dr. Barry Weinstein, objected to providing tax breaks for a medical facility that he believed would be financially viable without the incentives.

Read the Full story in the Buffalo News

[WNYresident]

This comment was interesting.

The corporate welfare wagon rumbles on. Every tax break given to this type of redistribution of wealth is directly and dollar for dollar additional tax that must be collected from the average taxpayer to support the services we have. I see no headlines anywhere that would state "Area Taxpayers Stuck For $190,000 For Private Firm". Lets hope some earstwhile News reporter gives us an article on the total taxbreaks given thruout the Region and just how much, per thousand of evaluation, property taxpayers have to make up to fund this nonsense. And as long as we are at it, how many promised jobs have actually been delivered, minus of course all the jobs created at the IDA's themselves? Remember that a job simply being relocate from one place in the region to another is not a job created.
Posted by: Robert H. MacCallum, Sloan on Fri Sep 17,2010 at 2:29 pm

"Board members Robert Ciesielski and Aaron Stanley opposed the project, arguing that it would not provide unique services and objecting to the granting of tax breaks for a medical project."

Please name another pediatric urgent care facility in Amherst... or WNY?

Didn't someone mention there are others?

[shortstuff]

The IDA criteria at this stage of the game is just another welfare cookie for the businesses. That statement that was made "where are the jobs created.." is an accurate statement. These companies go from town to town, the IDA requirement was to lure companies in from out of state and continued assessments of the jobs created.

When you go for an interview, and the interviewer asks you, "where do you see yourself in 5 years?" Well that is the type of question the IDA should ask, "how many employee's will you have hired in 5 years....or what is your projection....?" If they do not meet that projected timeline, they should re-adjust the IDA.