Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
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Re: Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
#2I think it's sad that the vocal minority was able to alter this decision. As the letter mentions, the project would have brought $27b in revenue to the state. This magnitude of revenue is material considering the fact that the state only collected $76b in taxes in the last reported fiscal year.
I think there's reason to debate whether large corps should be able to hold an auction like this, but given the place we find ourselves in today, there's no question this would have been a huge win for NY.
Re: Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
#3I suspect I'll never get why the notion of giving a tax handout to a company that's one of the most valuable in the world shouldn't be a non-starter.
> Incredibly, I have heard city and state elected officials who were opponents of the project claim that Amazon was getting $3 billion in government subsidies that could have been better spent on housing or transportation. This is either a blatant untruth or fundamental ignorance of basic math by a group of elected officials. The city and state 'gave' Amazon nothing. Amazon was to build their headquarters with union jobs and pay the city and state $27 billion in revenues. The city, through existing as-of-right tax credits, and the state through Excelsior Tax credits - a program approved by the same legislators railing against it - would provide up to $3 billion in tax relief, IF Amazon created the 25,000-40,000 jobs and thus generated $27 billion in revenue. You don't need to be the State's Budget Director to know that a nine to one return on your investment is a winner.
Actually, you do. Amazon already created jobs in NYC, without any handouts needed. Google recently announced they'd create more jobs, and they didn't expect a handout to do so. By the above logic, a 9:1 return for Amazon jobs is a good deal. What about the Google jobs? Do those count as infinite return?
If so, more infinite returns, and less 9:1 returns, please.
Or is there something else at work here?
Re: Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
#4I think it's sad that the vocal minority was able to alter this decision. As the letter mentions, the project would have brought $27b in revenue to the state. This magnitude of revenue is material considering the fact that the state only collected $76b in taxes in the last reported fiscal year. I think there's reason to debate whether large corps should be able to hold an auction like this, but given the place we fin…
The $27B is a present value sum of future cash flows, not an annual revenue.
Re: Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
#5I suspect I'll never get why the notion of giving a tax handout to a company that's one of the most valuable in the world shouldn't be a non-starter. > Incredibly, I have heard city and state elected officials who were opponents of the project claim that Amazon was getting $3 billion in government subsidies that could have been better spent on housing or transportation. This is either a blatant untruth or fundamental…
If google creates jobs in long island city, they would get the same handout though. Any company locating there does: it's a program NY state and NYC made to encourage development outside of Manhattan.
Re: Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
#6Cuomo isn't running for president, so no need to shovel money into Andy's coffers. Proof is that Amazon isn't looking for a replacement.
Re: Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
#7I understand the tragedy of the commons, cities' race to the bottom, Amazon not needing breaks, so on.
I also think some of this could have been avoided if people felt like they were part of the process, instead of being told by the state "Hey we negotiated with a behemoth company for them to take over your community - trust me, you'll like it".
Re: Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
#8I think it's sad that the vocal minority was able to alter this decision. As the letter mentions, the project would have brought $27b in revenue to the state. This magnitude of revenue is material considering the fact that the state only collected $76b in taxes in the last reported fiscal year. I think there's reason to debate whether large corps should be able to hold an auction like this, but given the place we fin…
> there's no question this would have been a huge win for NY.
But a loss for the US as a whole, assuming the HQ still gets built, but without special tax exemptions.
Re: Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
#9I think it's sad that the vocal minority was able to alter this decision. As the letter mentions, the project would have brought $27b in revenue to the state. This magnitude of revenue is material considering the fact that the state only collected $76b in taxes in the last reported fiscal year. I think there's reason to debate whether large corps should be able to hold an auction like this, but given the place we fin…
The $27B is a present value sum of future cash flows, not an annual revenue.
Thanks, corrected. Even so, still a ton of revenue.
Re: Open Letter from New York State Budget Director Robert Mujica Regarding Amazon
#10I suspect I'll never get why the notion of giving a tax handout to a company that's one of the most valuable in the world shouldn't be a non-starter. > Incredibly, I have heard city and state elected officials who were opponents of the project claim that Amazon was getting $3 billion in government subsidies that could have been better spent on housing or transportation. This is either a blatant untruth or fundamental…
If google creates jobs in long island city, they would get the same handout though. Any company locating there does: it's a program NY state and NYC made to encourage development outside of Manhattan.
So in other words, you're suggesting that the handout was baked in from the get go because the HQ was in Queens, and Amazon being Amazon had nothing to do with it?
If that's the case, the media have done a terrible job reporting this.