The New York Power Authority won’t say if the online retail giant Amazon has submitted an application for low-cost power or other incentives that would support the company’s plan to build a $550 million fulfillment center in the Town of Niagara.
In response to questions from the Niagara Gazette, a spokesperson indicated that the power authority can’t comment on “potential economic development award applications.”
When pressed on whether an actual application — not a “potential” one — had been filed by Amazon, power authority spokesperson Alex Chiaravalle said: “We are not at liberty to either confirm or deny the receipt of applications for such awards.”
Paul Wolf, an attorney who serves as president of the New York Coalition for Open Government, described the power authority’s response as “absurd.”
He noted that New York’s Committee on Open Government has, in advisory opinions issued in response to questions about Freedom of Information Law requests, noted that “Glomar” responses that neither “confirm nor deny” the information being sought are to be used only under “very limited circumstances.”
Those circumstances usually relate to “national security, public safety, or when an indication of the existence of a law enforcement record would have a stigmatizing effect.” The position, as noted in the advisory opinions, has been “engrafted onto the federal Freedom of Information Act and confirmed by federal courts and by the New York State Court of Appeals.”
“The response from the power authority is not one that is recognized as an appropriate response under the New York State Freedom of Information Law,” Wolf said. “Whether an application has been made by Amazon or not should not be treated as if it is a top secret matter.”
Amazon has applied for a tax break deal from Niagara County that would total more than $123 million over the next 15 years. The company’s application to the Niagara County Industrial Development Agency seeks a $94 million property tax abatement, sales tax breaks totaling $26 million, and a mortgage recording tax exemption of $3.55 million. The facility would end up paying a total of $49 million in taxes over the course of its first 15 years of operation, which would increase to $9.5 million a year after that.
The NCIDA’s board agreed to hold a public hearing on the proposed county incentive package. The hearing time and date has not yet been scheduled.