“With many of Orange County’s government and business leaders gathered today for the annual economic development summit, there is certainly some good news to spotlight: Magnets like Legoland have presented an opportunity for job creation, infrastructure upgrades, and local spending from tourists; while there are many problems with the state’s Hollywood film tax credit, the county’s film office effectively uses the tools at its disposal to generate significant television and movie production in our community; and the Orange County Chamber of Commerce does an exemplary job of supporting our local businesses in this sector and all sectors, regardless of their size.
“Unfortunately, several organizations, notably the Orange County IDA and Orange County Partnership, continue to disregard the delicate balance that’s necessary to advance our community’s best interests. They have zero respect for taxpayers and, at nearly every turn, prioritize corporate profits above our local residents.
“There are concrete steps that county government, the IDA, and Partnership ought to immediately take in order to best position ourselves for smart, next-level economic development:
Stop the reckless distribution of property tax breaks to certain industries that don’t need them; these subsidies shift more of the burden to existing residents and small businesses. Warehouses are coming to Orange County due to our geographic proximity and don’t require property tax breaks. Hotels are coming to Orange County because of increasing tourism. Yet, many in the county continue to disregard taxpayers and needlessly throw public money at these industries.
Diversify our local economy. We do tourism, hospitality, distribution, healthcare, and retail very well in Orange County, but virtually no effort or attention is paid to attracting businesses in the technology, financial services, life sciences, entertainment, software development, and agribusiness sectors. Our county leaders are more interested in the easier “low hanging fruit” that further stretches an extremely limited workforce rather than bringing in new industries that will allow employees to stay here rather than move or make the long commute into New York City.
Better link the “big draws” like Woodbury Common, Legoland, West Point, and Storm King Art Center with the rest of Orange County. Right now, these locations’ visitors are largely siloed off from the rest of the community due to a lack of county vision and public transit. For example, a state-funded pilot program that provided free fares on Newburgh-area buses saw ridership more than double yet, nevertheless, the county let the program expire.
Leverage our increasing tourism to better benefit local taxpayers. Earlier this year, new hotel/Airbnb tax authorization was provided by the State Legislature to the Towns of Cornwall and Goshen as well as the Villages of Goshen and Woodbury; they join several other municipalities that already have authorization. The county should be supporting efforts like this that require tourists to contribute more towards our local police, road, and sanitation budgets so that local taxpayers can feel some relief.
Require projects that receive even a penny of tax breaks to create good-paying, long-lasting jobs. Right now, the IDA turns a blind eye to the quality of the jobs being created. Case in point: they gave 15 years of property tax breaks to a company earlier this year that is allegedly creating 50 new jobs – 45 of them will have a starting salary of $35,000.
Put aside the egotism. Many of our county leaders and economic development officials feel they are immune to criticism, recoil at constructive feedback, and are extremely defensive of their “my way or the highway” mentality. They prefer to boast about economic development “wins” that ultimately harm taxpayers rather than confront the reality of their self-inflicted shortcomings. They ought to immediately begin better collaborating with local, state, and federal partners in order to ensure the county is best positioned moving forward.
Many taxpayers feel completely disregarded by Orange County’s approach to economic development. It’s why it was necessary to pass a first-of-its-kind state monitor earlier this year that will watch the Orange County IDA like a hawk and veto anti-taxpayers deals. There’s a real, meaningful place for smart economic development that provides our taxpayers a strong return on investment and improves the quality of life in our community. We can do better.