Nassau IDA votes to end property tax agreement with Amazon over lack of new jobs at Syosset warehouse

Amazon has lost millions of dollars in tax breaks for its Syosset warehouse at the former Cerro Wire just off the Long Island Expressway.

News 12 Staff

Aug 12, 2022, 9:35 PM

Updated 784 days ago

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Amazon has lost millions of dollars in tax breaks for its Syosset warehouse at the former Cerro Wire just off the Long Island Expressway.
Nassau County's Industrial Development Agency voted to end a property tax agreement with the company.
The e-commerce giant had said it would create 150 new jobs at the site on Robbins Lane. It was part of a deal with Nassau County that would have given the company around $11 million in tax breaks over 15 years.
That deal is now off the table as Amazon couldn't deliver on the new jobs that were promised to come with the Syosset facility that has yet to open.
The company tells the Nassau County IDA that it plans to close its Bethpage facility and move hundreds of jobs from there to Syosset and other locations.
IDA officials say the job transfers are not new jobs and that Amazon did not keep its promise.
The millions that the company was awarded in tax breaks will now go back to Nassau County.
IDA Chairman Richard Kessel released a statement, saying, "We will terminate the PILOT agreement that we have with Amazon. We get a new facility in Syosset, hundreds of people going to work over there, we get a property returned to the tax rolls, we get back all the money that we laid out in the sales and mortgage recording tax exemptions, we got hundreds of construction jobs in building this facility, we get environment remediation … it's a home run for everyone. We thank Amazon for their cooperation"
At Thursday's board meeting, Kessel said Amazon has voluntarily agreed to these new terms without litigation and will repay all benefits received to date. He also reassured the Syosset school district that the IDA will work with them to ensure they get what they are entitled to regarding Amazon's property tax roll.
Court Cousins, co-president of the North Syosset Civic Association, says he is disappointed there are no longer new jobs coming but hopes any payments in lieu of taxes that Nassau County expected as part of the deal this tax year will still come.
"IDAs exist in part to see that business development happens and good jobs come, but when they don't it may be the unfortunate downside that they have to go and use enforcement powers to try and claw back tax breaks that would simply leave the average taxpayers, homeowners like you and me or my neighbors left holding the bill," Cousins says.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says ending this deal ensures taxpayers are protected.
"The vote by the IDA terminating Amazon's economic benefits deal was a valid exercise of their oversight responsibilities and as a result county taxpayers have been protected," Blakeman says.
News 12 reached out to Amazon, which declined to comment.