As a partial antidote to all that, the New York Power Authority-- pushed by Gov. David A. Paterson--is helping by selling Yahoo! discounted hydropower that, depending on the market price of juice over the next 15 years, could amount to a savings for the company of up to $101.2 million.
That's not cash, but it works out to a power subsidy of $33,000 to $54,000 per job, per year, for jobs that pay $65,000 to $75,000 plus benefits. That's more than four times the average annual per-job power discount of the 61 authority deals worked out since 2006, which figures to $12,446.
The Lockport Industrial Development Agency, meanwhile, has arranged for significant property tax breaks, the value of which depends on local tax rates and the final valuation of the Yahoo! property, as well as some $12 million in sales tax savings on construction materials and equipment. GEICO, by comparison, received $100 million in IDA tax breaks over 15 years for a promise of 500 jobs (and uncommitted hopes, now half-realized, of an eventual 2,500 jobs).
All those tax breaks and all that cheap power offered to Yahoo! inevitably shift the costs of government and of electricity onto others--households, businesses and governments-- making it necessary to offer the next big business prospect still more incentives. Etc., etc., etc.
How much better it would be for the New York Legislature to help everyone, not just the big companies, by lowering taxes and costs enough that our region could attract and grow businesses without such expensive give-aways.
-----
To see more of The Buffalo News, N.Y., or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.buffalonews.com.
Copyright (c) 2009, The Buffalo News, N.Y.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
NASDAQ-NMS:YHOO,
A service of YellowBrix, Inc.
