New York prohibits County Industrial Development Agencies from granting tax breaks to retail projects, but will waive this rule if the project is a "tourist attraction." The Onondaga County IDA thus declared a proposed Costco a tourist attraction.
The Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency did an end-around of a state prohibition on IDA tax breaks for retail projects by declaring a proposed suburban superstore as a “tourist attraction.” The Costco store will be part of the “Township 5″ shopping center development in Camillus, a Syracuse suburb, and will be built on 67 acres of open land. Township 5 is just the latest in a long line of big-box-style developments across New York using the word “Town” somewhere in their names, and will be a contributor to SWOG (Sprawl Without Growth) in Greater Syracuse.
FULL STORY: Syracuse Post-Standard
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