Buffalo – Today, December 6, 2012, New York State Assemblyman Sean Ryan demanded that the Clarence Industrial Development Agency (CIDA) publicly release the agenda and supporting documents for their upcoming December 20th board meeting. In October, the CIDA rejected the idea of giving tax breaks to the Towne Mini Dealership as they sought to expand their business to a parcel of land located directly across the street from their current dealership on Main Street in Clarence. A month later, the Towne Mini owners came back to the CIDA asking that tax breaks be reconsidered, claiming the project cannot go forward without the taxpayer subsidies. In November, Ryan sent a letter to the CIDA Chairman, Town Supervisor David Hartzell, urging the CIDA to not reconsider their previous decision to reject the tax breaks. Supervisor Hartzell said that “no decision has been made” in regards to the dealership. The CIDA has a board meeting scheduled for December 20th, where tax breaks could be approved for the project. In a letter to Supervisor Hartzell, Ryan demanded that the CIDA release the agenda and supplemental materials for the upcoming meeting.
“The Clarence IDA will soon decide if taxpayer dollars will be used to support yet another retail business in Erie County,” said Assemblyman Ryan. “Rather than outright rejecting the idea to reconsider the tax breaks, the Clarence IDA chairman actually said they would “talk about it over the next month” and get back to the dealership with a new decision. Before the Clarence IDA meets on December 20th, they should publicly release their meeting agenda and all supporting documents that Towne Mini has provided to them. The public has a right to know if the Clarence IDA will be making a decision on these tax breaks at their upcoming meeting.”
Ryan has called on the IDAs to stop giving away tax break deals that do little to create good paying jobs that benefit the entire region. Property and sales tax breaks given out by IDA’s in Erie County mean less revenue for every single municipality and school district in Erie County. In addition, tax breaks are often given to businesses that are already planning to expand, as was the case with the Premier Liquor deal in Amherst. IDAs approving tax break deals for donut shops, liquor stores, yoga studios and other retail projects have prompted Ryan to call for reform of the IDA system in Erie County. Ryan has also introduced legislation to reform the way IDAs do business in Erie County, and will continue to push IDA reform in the upcoming legislative session.
In his letter to the Clarence IDA last month, Ryan requested that they publicly disclose all application documents submitted by Towne Mini. The Clarence IDA website lists agenda’s and minutes of board meetings. However, the agendas section has not been updated since June, and the minutes section since August.
“The Clarence IDA should immediately update their website with an agenda and supporting documents for the upcoming December 20th meeting,” Ryan added. “If Towne Mini is on the agenda for the upcoming meeting, the Clarence IDA should reject tax breaks for this retail business. The business already has a sign out on their property that says “Future Home of Town Mini.” Clearly they are going forward with this expansion even without taxpayer subsidies.”
A copy of Ryan’s letter appears below. For more information contact Assemblyman Ryan’s office at 716-885-9630.
December 6, 2012
Hon. David Hartzell
Supervisor
Town of Clarence
One Town Place
Clarence, NY 14031
Dear Supervisor Hartzell:
I write today to follow up on my request that you publicly disclose all application documents submitted to the Clarence IDA (CIDA) by Towne Mini. Since I have not heard back from you in regards to this request, I am formally making a request for these documents under the New York State FOIA law.
It should noted that the CIDA website has not been updated with meeting agendas since June, and with meeting minutes since August. The CIDA has a scheduled meeting coming up on December 20th. Since you have publicly stated that the CIDA has not yet made a decision on whether tax breaks will be reconsidered for Towne Mini, I and others can only assume that a decision will be made at your upcoming meeting. The CIDA should immediately post the agenda and any supplemental documents for this meeting on your website. The public has a right to know if the CIDA will be making a decision on these tax breaks at the upcoming meeting.
I would also like to point out, as I did in my previous letter, that Towne Mini is already making plans to expand. There is already a sign out on their property that says “Future Home of Town Mini.” Clearly they are going forward with this expansion even without taxpayer subsidies. If Towne Mini will be on the agenda for the upcoming meeting, I again urge you to continue to reject the idea of tax breaks for this retail business. And once again, in the best interest of transparency, the CIDA should make the December meeting agenda publicly available. I look forward to hearing from you on this important matter.
Sincerely,
Sean M. Ryan
NYS Assemblyman, 144th District
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