Saying “I know a flat tire when I see one,” county Treasurer Bill Cherry last week blasted economic development efforts by the county Planning and Development Agency.
But Alicia Terry, director of the agency, countered that her office is steadily working with private employers, and development “is not as easy as it looks.”
Mr. Cherry’s frustration grew from a statement Ms. Terry made nearly a month ago. Speaking at a state Assembly forum on property tax reform, Ms. Terry said Schoharie County is the 44th-highest taxed county in the nation.
“My gut feeling is that it’s not true,” Mr. Cherry said last week. “I’m not arguing New York is a low-tax state, but Schoharie County being 44th highest in the country? I don’t think so.”
The county is debt-free and has a lower tax rate than it did 10 years ago, Mr. Cherry added.
Not only does he dispute the figure, Mr. Cherry also believes that in her position as a promoter of economic development, Ms. Terry shouldn’t be spreading “such misinformation.”
“We can’t have a top county official constantly reminding people how awful things are,” he said.
Ms. Terry, however, said she got the 44th-highest figure from a local company that was considering moving elsewhere. She trusts the figure and pointed out that she made the comment in the context of a meeting on property tax reform.
According to the company’s analysis, Ms. Terry said, the figure represents “the relationship between taxes paid and the value of property.”
She wouldn’t reveal the company’s name.
Ms. Terry believes the figure “because every day I walk through the door of a business, and one of their issues is taxes in New York.
“This is not an issue we can pretend doesn’t exist. I know the risk of making that statement, but it’s something I face every day.”
Mr. Cherry countered that Fulton and Montgomery counties––both in apparent worse tax shape than Schoharie––have had considerable recent growth.
“With all our advantages, we don’t see the job growth others have seen,” he said. “We shouldn’t be lagging. We should be leading.”
Arguing that “the culture of economic development is different” in Fulton and Montgomery, Ms. Terry said the economy in those counties was based on mills. When the mills closed, “county governments made significant investments in economic development.
“And they had Empire Zones long before we did,” she added.
As treasurer, Mr. Cherry said, issues about economic development are linked to his job. That’s why he’s concerned about progress––or lack of it, he said.
“In the past 10 years, we’ve had Wal-Mart and the Wal-Mart Distribution Center,” Mr. Cherry said. “We haven’t seen anything in the past five or six years. I know a flat tire when I see one.
“Are we failing in economic development? If other places can generate growth, we should be, too.”
But Ms. Terry said she and her staff have been and are working with many small businesses, most recently helping Eastern Forest Products in Cobleskill expand from 40 to 62 employees.
Attracting new business, she said, is difficult because many factors figure in a relocation, not the least of which the final decision is up to the business owner, not local government.
“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Ms. Terry said. “We’re doing the best we can with private business. It’s not something you do with a five-minute phone call.
“Sooner or later we’ll make a hit. It won’t be for lack of time or effort.”