Projects that have received assistance from the Genesee County Economic Development Center for more than a decade have added $4.85 million to local property tax revenue, Steve Hyde told members of the County Legislature yesterday during the Ways and Means Committee meeting.
Hyde, who is CEO of the GCEDC, made his presentation as part of the annual department review for the industrial development agency.
It has helped assist in a build-out of more than 2.5 million square feet of new manufacturing space around the county and another million square feet that have been renovated.
There are currently about 80 projects still within their 10-year PILOT (Payments In Lieu Of Taxes) cycle making payments to local taxing jurisdictions.
"Then there are 64 PILOTS that have actually graduated, so to speak," Hyde said (meaning, they're beyond the 10-year lifespan of their PILOTS). "They've expired and they're back paying full taxes. That aggregate (PILOTS and projects that have graduated) is paying almost five million dollars a year in tax payments to county schools and municipalities."
Hyde said as a return on investment for the county's portion of GCEDC's operating budget, that's about a 22-1 return.
"What's happened really is is that even though our total number of PILOTS have gone down, a lot them have graduated and are paying full taxes," Hyde said. "We're also doing larger projects these days. The shovel-ready strategy has made us more of an ecosystem that is attractive to bigger investment."
The biggest project in the pipeline is WNY STAMP (Science and Technology Advanced Manufacturing Park), which contractors starting working on this past month, bringing in water lines and grading for roads and other infrastructure.
STAMP is expected to be the future home of the solar wafer manufacturing plant of 1366 Technologies, but Hyde said there is a lot of interest in the project.
"We're seeing a lot of conversation about STAMP and it's readiness to market," Hyde said. "We actually have a sales funnel with 10 projects in it right now. These are one- and two-year deals but the promise is there for continued growth."
The challenge for business development in New York, as always, Hyde said, is the reputation the state has for being a poor place to do business. That hasn't changed, but Hyde said there is improvement.
"To the credit of the state and the governor, they've done a lot over the past few budget years," Hyde said. "They've moved income taxes for manufacturing down to zero, so that's really helpful because most of our strategies are around shovel-ready sites. That's about bringing advanced manufacturing back and we've got a much better tax climate in New York to help us be successful."
