More COMIDA questions - why this one over that one?
I’ve been busy lately and haven’t been following COMIDA as closely as I probably should. I caught this Press Release about some recent COMIDA incentives. (reported by the D&C)
There was a Manufacturing company that relocated here from Toronto, a company that will build (and lease out) a medical building, A Mechanical / Electrical Engineering Consulting firm and a Plumbing Contractor.
Let’s look at the Plumbing Contractor.
About $36,000 in sales tax exemptions for AP Plumbing Contractors Inc. on $450,000 in new equipment purchases. The Rochester company hopes to add two jobs.
Ok - $36K in sales tax exemptions to buy equipment. Why AP Plumbing as opposed to all these OTHER Rochester-based contractors? I’m sure not everyone one is a direct competitor but why one over the other. My second question is - where are the 2 jobs coming from? One of those other contractors? Are we really creating jobs here or moving them around?
You can probably make the same claim about the Engineering Contractor
M/E Engineering PC in Rochester was granted about $16,000 in sales tax exemptions to buy $200,000 worth of hardware and software. The firm plans to add four jobs.
I think this is M/E Engineering PC in Rochester. Well $16k in sales tax exemptions. Have a look at their Campaign donations (scroll down to M/E Engineering PC).
Yeah we know how the pay to play stuff works having recently received our own COMIDA grant. But this isn’t a humorous April Fools Post.
What we have here is 8K on donations to the Monroe County GOP Housekeeping Committee in January 2008 (with a history behind that). In March they receive 16K in Sales tax incentives.
But how many Engineering Contractors are there in Rochester? Here is a list of NY Engineering Firms. Highlight the term Rochester (FireFox? Control F, Highlight all. IE? you are on your own). There are a few here as well. Now - I didn’t cross check donations from these firms. Not yet. But then again why one over the other?
I suppose the next thing to watch for with M/E Engineering is a relationship to RenSquare.
Remember that is $52K (36K + 16K) that comes out of the tax rolls. 52K that goes into service industries. 52K that must be paid by someone else. Who is that someone else? You!
Comments?
Thank you.
You’re asking the right questions and I think you’re the only member of the local media doing so.
I hope you’re not too offended by being referred to as a member of the media. If so, I’ll apologize and withdraw the comment but not the sentiment that the papers, radio stations, and TV talking heads ought to be taking lessons from what you’re doing.
You had me at ‘Thank You”. I appreciate the compliment and reference.
I just want these questions answered.
Our here in the boonies, it appears that COMIDIA is mostly a way to transfer money and power to the republican suburbs especially, Greece but also Gates and Chili and Ogden, without actually creating many jobs. It makes the tax base appear larger than it is. Remember when Gannet built its new plant at the Canal ponds in Greece with a big grant. They actually cut jobs. Many business that are in Canal Ponds simply relocated from somewhere else in the Rochester area. That whole area –Canal Ponds– is just a big transfer scheme. Didn’t Wegman’s get money for some of its new projects too. They do not need tax breaks, nor should they get them as long as they are closing stores in the City of Rochester. That is very poor public policy.
Few jobs are being created in our area.
Unfortunately the dems follow a similar playbook. Before Spitzer went under he championed the PAETEC plan which is just transferring jobs from the suburbs to the City.
Basically taxpayers are footing the bill for this shell game.
What we really need is for money to be spent on direct job creation — not grants to businesses — as in the new deal. Government investment in jobs is not by any means always a losing proposition.
[...] Now remember, this is the guy who thinks a good way to pay back political donors is through COMIDA benefits, which are payed for by the good taxpayers of Monroe County. This is what he writes (my bold) : [...]