Subsidy Sheet: Rural Genesee’s IDA data center deal could smash all-time NY subsidy records
Genesee County, New York has about 58,000 people, but its Economic Development Center (GCEDC) has gargantuan delusions and a seeming obsession with burning bales of taxpayer dollars and immolating future revenue streams for schools and other government services.
In 2021, when GCEDC approved a $4-million-per-job subsidy deal for Plug Power, the Investigative Post called it “the mother of all subsidy deals.” GCEDC apparently took this as a compliment and is now considering three data center proposals that would arguably exceed Plug Power’s (Investigative Post).
Here is what the three applicants are proposing:
- STREAM* U.S. Data Centers, LLC: $472 million in tax breaks for 122 jobs ($3.9 million per job and $8,138 per Genesee resident)
- Project Rampart*: $239 million for 105 jobs ($2.28 million per job and $4,121 per Genesee resident)
- Potentia Holdings: $167.6 million for 200 jobs ($838,244 per job and $2,890 per Genesee resident)
For a small rural county like Genesee, these are gigantic subsidies and equivalent to a project in New York City getting subsidies of $65 billion, $33 billion, or $23 billion (NYC’s 2024 budget was $107 billion). Consider that the infamous Amazon HQ2 project was slated to get $3.5 billion in NYC and state subsidies – about $438 per NYC resident. In other words, the lowest cost data center being considered by GCEDC, Potentia, would get seven times more in subsidies for each resident of Genesee County than what Amazon wanted from each NYC resident for HQ2 ($2,890 Potentia/$438 Amazon).
*Note: The STREAM and Project Rampart calculations don’t include calculations for discounted power that Investigative Post used as part of its STAMP reporting, so the totals are likely even higher.
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Other NY corporate giveaway news from this week:
- The City covers Hochul’s proposed new handouts to Hollywood producers, and what lawmakers and advocates (such as Reinvent Albany) are doing to fight back.
- The Supreme Court cleared the way for Buffalo Billion defendants to be tried against after their convictions were vacated in 2023 (Times Union).
- Girard Miller, while calling Opportunity Zones a boondoggle, proposes reforming them to help communities rebuild after disasters (Governing).
- Don’t miss our post on “the coming Opportunity Zone boondocalypse” from last week.
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