Amazon scales back massive tax break request for Wawayanda warehouse
Revised proposal would cut the incentive package from more than $102M to about $69M and have Amazon paying full property taxes 10 years sooner.
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A controversial tax break proposed for a massive Amazon warehouse in Orange County has been reduced by more than $30 million following more than a year of community opposition and a fight over public incentives for the project.
State Sen. James Skoufis announced Thursday that Amazon is now seeking a 10-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, or PILOT, agreement valued at approximately $69 million for its proposed fulfillment center in the Town of Wawayanda.
Amazon originally sought a 20-year PILOT worth more than $102 million in property tax savings — a proposal that drew significant backlash from residents and some elected officials who questioned why one of the world’s largest companies needed such a substantial tax break.
The proposal was later reduced to 15 years and approximately $80 million. The Orange County Industrial Development Agency approved that package last fall, but a state-appointed monitor vetoed the deal.
The IDA challenged the monitor’s authority in court, but a state Supreme Court judge dismissed the case earlier this year.
Amazon has now returned with a substantially smaller incentive package.
Under the latest proposal, the company would receive tax breaks for 10 years and begin paying full property taxes 10 years sooner than under its original request.
Skoufis, who has fought the proposed tax breaks for more than a year, characterized the new agreement as a significant win for Orange County taxpayers and says the changes are the result of sustained pressure on Amazon and the IDA.
“Amazon and the IDA learned the hard way that they could no longer get away with business as usual,” Skoufis said in announcing the new deal.
Skoufis says Amazon has also agreed to enter into a project labor agreement with Hudson Valley construction trades for construction of the facility. The proposed $607 million project at 22 McBride Road in Slate Hill would include approximately 3.2 million square feet of space and is expected to create hundreds of permanent jobs.
The Orange County IDA held a public hearing on the revised proposal Thursday and could consider the new incentive package later this month.
Skoufis says the changes could also have implications beyond this project. He says the IDA is moving forward with a policy amendment that, if adopted, would prohibit the agency from granting PILOT property tax breaks to warehouse projects in the future.
The proposed change would effectively prevent future warehouse developments from receiving the type of property tax incentives at the center of the Amazon controversy.
The Orange County IDA says the proposed policy change to prohibit property tax breaks for future warehouse projects will first go to a public hearing before being placed on the agency’s agenda for adoption. IDA CEO Bill Fioravanti confirmed the details of the proposed policy change to News 12 but said the agency is not commenting on Amazon’s latest tax-break request until the board votes. A vote has not yet been scheduled.
News 12 has also reached out to Amazon for comment.
