Promised IDA Tax Benefits on Syosset Amazon Warehouse Project Have Been Revoked

For those used to seeing the vacant Cerro Wire site in Syosset, you will now spot a new Amazon warehouse facility.  Previous efforts to build a shopping mall at that location were thwarted after a nearly 20-year saga.  The new facility was built using tax incentives provided by the Nassau County IDA, which is chartered to foster job creation through development.  While Amazon may deliver merchandise from its new location, they could not deliver on the new jobs promised in exchange for tax incentives.  Instead, Amazon opted to transfer jobs from a down-sized Bethpage site to the new Syosset facility. This did not satisfy the “new jobs” requirement for IDA tax incentives. Now, the promised IDA tax benefits on the project have been revoked.  For IDA naysayers, the story of the Syosset property shows the IDA job verification process at work.

What gets lost in almost every IDA news piece is the fact that the newly developed property, almost always, pays more taxes from day 1 than the previously undeveloped or underdeveloped property.

Do the IDA’s offers tax breaks to developers? – Yes.

Do affected tax districts receive less in revenue from the same undeveloped or underdeveloped property? – No

View the Newsday Media coverage here: Amazon facility in Syosset loses $11 million in IDA tax breaks – Newsday