Categories for DailyPost

Apr 18

2023

Another Buffalo Bills stadium tax break

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After celebrating the deal for the new Buffalo Bills stadium during his annual budget address last week, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz revealed yet another way that the deal will be stacked in the favor of the Bills, rather than county residents. Speaking to reporters after his speech, Poloncarz said New York and Erie County structured the community benefits agreement — a key component of the overall stadium deal — to maximize tax write-offs for Bills owners Kim and Terry Pegula. That would amount to an added benefit not previously reported. And that benefit would be on top of state[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 17

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Get WeeklyPost delivered straight to your inbox Sunday mornings by subscribing here. Is the bloodletting over at The Buffalo News? There are ominous signs from Montana, where Lee Enterprises has implemented cuts at five of its newspapers because of the chain’s downward financial spiral. If history holds, Lee will demand similar cuts at its other properties, including The News. Speaking of The News, music critic Jeff Miers has left the paper. That gives readers one less reason to buy the paper. Cuts have hurt The News across the board, none moreso than arts and entertainment coverage.  There’s the previous departures of Jeff Simon and Colin Dabkowski and the gutting of[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 12

2023

Holes in oversight of Bills stadium deal

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Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and his top aides like to say the community benefits agreement accompanying the deal for a new Buffalo Bills stadium is among the “best” and “strongest” CBAs ever committed to paper. “This is the best CBA ever negotiated with any NFL team,” Erie County Attorney Jeremy Toth told Investigative Post this week. But a close examination of the CBA, along with interviews with experts and the officials who negotiated the agreement, reveals at least two ways the deal could fall short of those lofty pronouncements. For one, a yet-to-be-formed Community Benefits Oversight Committee made up[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 11

2023

Judge gives City Hall an edict

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Last week a judge ordered the City of Buffalo to tell John Mahar — yes or no, one way or another — whether the city would give him the $131,ooo in profit it made by selling his house at a tax foreclosure auction almost three years ago. He’s been waiting for an answer for 10 months, but has been greeted by what a state Supreme Court Justice Donna Siwek called “radio silence” from the city. Mahar laid claim to the money last June, using an application process the city posted on its website in November 2021, instructing former property owners[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 11

2023

Yet another Bills stadium disappointment

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Last year, Investigative Post reported on community benefit agreements involving the construction of big league stadiums and arenas. CBAs involve teams and/or the developers of their venues pledging money for community projects in exchange for the tax dollars they receive to help finance their facilities. The process used here to negotiate a CBA for the Bills stadium was unusual. Instead of the Bills negotiating with members of the community, the bargaining was restricted to politicians and their staffs.  Taking it a step further, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz insisted that negotiators sign non-disclosure agreements, which forbade not only any public[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 10

2023

Monday Morning Read

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Subscribe to WeeklyPost and you’ll get the following post – and more – in you inbox Sunday mornings. Pat Garofalo of Boondoggle offers insight as to why local journalism is suffering. From New York Focus: Gov. Kathy Hochul is pushing for changes that would allow for more greenhouse gas emissions while fossil fuel companies pull out the stops in an effort to derail her push towards electrification. Does the governor know if she’s coming or going? Opportunity Zones, the latest incarnation of enterprise zones, haven’t benefited the low-income neighborhoods they’re supposed to help, according to research rounded up by Reinvent Albany. Elon Musk Watch: Tesla is found[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 6

2023

Experts: Stadium CBA comes up short

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According to experts, the community benefits agreement for the new Buffalo Bills stadium lacks key provisions that are common to successful CBAs elsewhere. That’s partly by design. The CBA for the Bills stadium, announced Wednesday, is the first such agreement for a major project in Erie County. It calls for the team to commit $3 million annually over 30 years to fund projects that benefit the community. That’s in exchange for a $850 million public contribution to the $1.5 billion stadium. But the deal does not specify how that money should be spent, leaving those decisions up to an oversight[...]

Posted 2 years ago

Apr 3

2023

Report details Tesla’s solar struggles

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Tesla and state economic development officials have long treated activity at the company’s plant in South Buffalo as a state secret. Aside from an annual report listing Tesla’s total investment and employment in Buffalo, company and state officials have been loath to clue the public in on what exactly is going on at the factory. The lack of transparency comes despite a state investment of $959 million to build and equip the plant, on the promise it would spawn a clean energy sector in Western New York. That’s changed with the release of a first-of-its-kind report from a global consulting[...]

Posted 2 years ago
Investigative Post