MAYVILLE – A group of lawmakers in the Chautauqua County legislature wants to hold the county Industrial development Agency more accountable for bringing new business – and jobs – into the area. Legislators Tom DeJoe (D-Brocton), Paula DeJoy (D-Jamestown) and Lori Cornell (D-Jamestown) said that in light of New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s report on IDAs statewide, and his call for greater accountability, they and other legislators would like the Chautauqua County IDA Executive Director Bill Daly to provide a jobs report for County Legislators.
Cornell tells WRFA that lawmakers believe the request isn’t as much a criticism of the current IDA administration as it is part of the oversight obligation of the county legislature.
“It’s a way for us to respond to our legislative duty of oversight and apply that to this very critical area of county government and all of our communities,” Cornell explained. “We need more jobs [so we ask] ‘how do we do that?’ That’s our role as a legislature – to perform that type of oversight. So we very much look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the IDA. It’s not at all meant as an affront what-so-ever to the IDA.”
The New York State Comptrollers report on 2010 indicated that the Chautauqua County IDA had a low percentage of jobs created versus jobs retained relative to other counties in the state. According to the report, the Chautauqua County IDA had a sum total project amounts of $398 million, with $11.7 million in gross tax exemptions and $11 million in Payments in Leau of Taxes (PILOTs) for the same year. The report indicated that 608 jobs were estimated to be created, with 4012 jobs to be retained with and an estimated net job change of 457.
Cornell says the lawmakers will formerly file a resolution that involves the creation and submission of a regular jobs report from the IDA when the legislature holds its monthly voting session Wednesday night.
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