NY Senate proposes state monitor for Orange County agency that grants business tax breaks

Chris McKenna, New York State Team
·3 min read

The state would appoint one or two monitors to oversee and potentially overrule tax breaks that the Orange County Industrial Development Agency grants to companies under a Senate proposal released Tuesday.

The monitor plan was drafted by state Sen. James Skoufis of Orange County and tucked into the Senate's response to Gov. Kathy Hochul's proposed budget. It is now part of the swirl of competing ideas that will be accepted or discarded over the next couple weeks as Senate and Assembly leaders negotiate with the Hochul administration to adopt a spending plan for the fiscal year that starts April 1.

New York State Senator James Skoufis speaks during a press conference about initiating a probe into the Orange County Industrial Development Agency on February 22, 2023. According to Skoufis the IDA has been granting unnecessary tax breaks to companies which is impacting schools and infrastructure in the county.
New York State Senator James Skoufis speaks during a press conference about initiating a probe into the Orange County Industrial Development Agency on February 22, 2023. According to Skoufis the IDA has been granting unnecessary tax breaks to companies which is impacting schools and infrastructure in the county.

Skoufis, a Cornwall Democrat, has long criticized some property-tax reductions approved by Orange County's tiny agency and the appointed board that oversees it. The board grants those and other tax breaks to encourage businesses to build or expand their operations in Orange, and Skoufis has blasted benefits he argued were excessive or unnecessary - at the expense of local taxpayers.

Proposing a state monitor with veto power marks an escalation of that campaign.

New leader:Orange County IDA hires Fioravanti as CEO in wake of corruption scandal and turnover

“If the IDA refuses to act in good faith to protect the public interest, the state has an obligation to step in and safeguard taxpayers," he said in statement on Tuesday. "I won’t sit idly by while the IDA picks the pockets of Orange County residents year after year.”

Bill Fioravanti, CEO of the IDA, fired back afterward, accusing Skoufis of staging a political stunt "to create shocking headlines and to fashion himself as a hero, by slandering this completely transparent public agency and the good people who lead it."

"What Senator Skoufis is doing, simply put, is a disgrace," Fioravanti said in a statement.

More input:Orange County supervisors, mayors seek stronger role in deciding business tax breaks

Guilty:Three plead guilty in corruption probe at Orange County Industrial Development agency

How is Skoufis proposing to monitor Orange County IDA?

The lengthy proposal added to a Senate budget bill would have the director of the Authorities Budget Office - which oversees industrial development agencies in New York - appoint one or two monitors who could demand records from the Orange County IDA, change its policies and by-laws, attend closed-door board discussions and override any decisions that are deemed to contradict the county's interests.

The IDA would pay for the monitor's services.

The Accelerator, office for the Orange County Industrial Development Agency in New Windsor on February 22, 2023.
The Accelerator, office for the Orange County Industrial Development Agency in New Windsor on February 22, 2023.

Most recently, Skoufis criticized in February a Goshen frozen-food maker's request for tax breaks for a plant expansion, even though Milmar Foods acknowledged to the IDA in its application that it would still do the project without those financial incentives.

He also has spoken out against $8.5 million in proposed tax breaks for an Amazon warehouse in Wawayanda and $32 million in approved tax breaks for a Royal Wine Corp. winery and warehouse in Goshen.

Fioravanti, in his response to Skoufis' monitor proposal, pointed out that two state agencies - the Authorities Budget Office and state Comptroller's Office - already monitor the Orange County IDA, which submits reports to both about its operations and the tax incentives it approves.

"We are fully compliant with both of these agencies and neither has raised one red flag about our current administration or how we operate," Fioravanti said.

Fioravanti has steered the agency since a scandal involving its previous administrators resulted in criminal charges and guilty pleas by two of them and a board member - former Orange County Executive Ed Diana. The deposed manager director, Vincent Cozzolino, admitted overcharging the board for his services over six years and repaid the agency $1 million as part of his plea agreement.

Orange County lawmakers removed and replaced the entire IDA board after the criminal investigation surfaced.

Chris McKenna covers government and politics for the Journal News and the USA Today Network. Reach him at cmckenna@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on New York State Team: Could NY oversee Orange County agency granting business tax breaks?