Senator James Skoufis may have been a bit harsh in calling for the dissolution of the Town of Montgomery Industrial Development Agency (IDA) recently, but his concern for preserving local jobs is legitimate.

Last week he criticized the town’s IDA for their decision to grant the Project Sailfish developers a waiver that allows them to use non-local labor in the painting of the new Amazon warehouse. He argued, correctly, that with construction already underway and millions of dollars already spent, there was no threat whatsoever that Amazon would abandon the project if their waiver was rejected.

Skoufis has targeted Town of Montgomery projects before. In 2019, he stood in front of town hall and famously told Medline to “pay your damn taxes” after the company was awarded tax abatements for its

Montgomery warehouse. Eventually Medline gave in to public pressure and withdrew its application for a tax abatement.

In fairness, it’s not just in the Town of Montgomery where issues surround development projects. The recently-opened BJ’s Wholesale Club in the Town of Newburgh was completed in the presence of pickets decrying the use of out-of-town labor. It was not their only faux pas. Mayor Torrance Harvey of the City of Newburgh was invited to the BJ’s ribbon-cutting but none of the Town of Newburgh’s elected officials were, on whose land the warehouse stands, received one. It led to some hurt feelings.

With regard to Amazon, Town of Montgomery Supervisor Brian Maher took issue with the state senator’s statements. Not, he said, that Amazon deserved any tax breaks. He agreed they don’t, but suggested the current state incentive program is to blame.

“Without PILOTs, many of these businesses would not come to New York because the overspending and bad policies created by the state legislature have made New York State an unaffordable place to live, work and open a business,” Maher said. “Our current reality is that New York cannot compete with neighboring states that offer similar infrastructure and location benefits without offering tax incentives through PILOTs.”

Maher is correct in one regard. New York can be a hard place for a business to survive. Taxes and utility bills can be high, and the winter climate can be harsh. But he may be selling short his own infrastructure. Companies are moving here for the same reasons that attracted Yellow Freight to the old Maybrook rail yards some 40 years ago. We are at the confluence of two major highways and one international airport. Boston, Philadelphia, Ohio and all points in between are within six hours along these interstate highways. The promise is printed on the sides of town highway department vehicles: the Town of Newburgh is the “Crossroads of the Northeast,” the Town of Montgomery is “The Transportation Hub of the Northeast.”

As long as that network - and a workforce - is here, there will be interest. We just need to find a way to make sure that the companies that set up shop in our corner of the Northeast pay a living wage and their fair share of taxes. And we need to ensure that those companies that have already received tax abatements are here for the long run. We don’t want them packing up and heading south after 10 years.

The Montgomery Supervisor has invited his state representatives to a round-table discussion to discuss the various incentive programs and how they can be put to better use for the town and its residents.

Let the conversation begin.