“Last night, the Orange County IDA voted unanimously to rubber-stamp incentives totaling nearly $32 million for Royal Wine Corporation’s new facility in Goshen, a facility that has already broken ground. These include $28 million in property tax breaks.
“I wrote to the IDA board in advance of the meeting, imploring them to block these astronomical corporate handouts and to do right by the taxpayers of Goshen and Orange County–none of whom have any real voice in this discussion. My pleas fell on deaf ears. And now, Royal Wine, one of the largest wine producers in the world, is the beneficiary of perhaps the most egregious tax break ever handed out in Orange County.
“In particular, I raised the startling fact that the jobs this project promises to create would come with an unheard-of price tag: over $500,000 in subsidies per job. Half a million dollars in tax breaks for each and every job created. For context, the mega Amazon warehouse in Montgomery – also a bad deal for taxpayers – came in at approximately $30,000 in subsidies per job.
“One would think this would be a major topic of conversation during the IDA’s meeting last night. Shockingly, instead, there was not a single mention of the outrageous per-job tax breaks being offered. In fact, the board did not ask a single, solitary question of anything in the tax break application. Not one. It’s the height of irresponsibility and a reflection of one of two sets of facts: either they are the worst negotiators on the face of the planet or, worse, they simply do not care that taxpayers are getting ripped off left and right.
“The Orange County IDA is out of control. They have demonstrated they do not have one iota of respect for the taxpayers they’re supposed to look out for. My office and I will be taking steps in coming weeks to get to the bottom of their behavior. Orange County’s hardworking taxpayers are fed up with these corporate welfare enablers – and, so am I.”