GOSHEN – The Orange County Industrial Development Agency this evening is set to consider approving financial incentives for Royal Wine Corporation to build a new facility in the Village and Town of Goshen and State Senator James Skoufis (D- Cornwall) is opposed to granting them. “The inducements being pursued are exceedingly improper and ought to be disapproved,” he said in a letter to the IDA board.
Skoufis said the IDA application seeks nearly $32 million in property, sales and mortgage tax breaks and commits to the creation of 45 new full-time equivalent jobs and 10 new part-time jobs, amounting to $581,000, “an absolutely astronomical figure.”
The lawmaker said the property being considered “is not some major blight or problem property that requires the community and IDA to bend over backwards for development: it is prime real estate for distribution given its location to major highways.” He also noted clearing of the site has been completed and construction has started, “making an enormous incentive for a project already underway inappropriate at best.”
Skoufis said if the IDA board approves the incentive package tonight, “they ought to close up shop because they don’t have the best interests of the taxpayers at heart.”
