Several people urged the Erie County Industrial Development Agency Monday morning to reject a more than $3 million tax break for Uniland Development. The company says it needs the incentives to build a new corporate headquarters at Delaware and Chippewa in downtown Buffalo for Delaware North Companies. Delaware North received an $807,000 tax break for the project last week.
During the public hearing, only a company representative spoke in favor of the tax breaks.
According to Uniland, the new office building will create more than 400 construction jobs and help retain 350 good paying jobs at Delaware North, which plans to hire 65 new employees.
Ellen Kennedy, a member of Citizen Action, says public dollars should not be used to subsidize projects of highly profitable companies.
"It has been argued that Uniland is not asking for anything than has been provided to other companies. If this is true, then I would argue that the ECIDA has strayed from the original intent of these subsidies," Kennedy said.
Coalition for Economic Justice Executive Director Jennifer Diagostino said taxes are "not a punishment."
"Taxes are a responsibility we all share as part of the social contract of living in a civil society," Diagostino said. "Taxes pay for the schools that educate our workforce. They pay the salaries of the inspectors who ensure our buildings are safe."
Sarah Buckley took issue with the scheduling of the hearing.
"A public hearing held on Monday at 8:30 in the morning is not designed for the public that I'm familiar with," she said.
The ECIDA is expected to vote on the request in mid-December.
