Western New York: Carl Paladino

$1.4 Million for 1 Job
Claim to Shame
Active in New York State politics and a frequent and vocal critic of “big government,” Carl Paladino has received significant discounts on land purchased from the government, in addition to receiving tax breaks on nearly every one of his development projects.
Loot
1998 – 2014 Waterfront Condos; 2012 – 2022 Amherst upscale hotel/retail/apartments
Length
Waterfront Condos 1998 – 2014; Amherst upscale hotel/ retail/apartments 2012 – 2022
Jobs
1; 50 promised
Total Tax Break$16,000,000+

We pay our fair share…so wealthy developers don’t have to.

Carl Paladino owns an estimated 20 properties that have received tax breaks amounting to at least $16 million since 2003. A frequent manipulator of New York’s now-defunct Empire Zone tax credit program, Paladino successfully lobbied to have the borders of Buffalo’s Empire Zone, intended to create jobs in economically distressed neighborhoods, expanded to include all of the downtown business district. He registered 16 of his properties into the program, collecting $1.5 million in tax breaks, while spending only $1.1 of his own money on redevelopment.

An equal opportunity subsidy abuser, Paladino’s projects have received IDA tax breaks in addition to Empire Zone breaks. Tax breaks on his waterfront luxury condominium project expire in 2012, although tax breaks amounting to $5.3 million for the luxury condo owners will continue for 10 years. The project has created 1 job.

Soon, Paladino will break ground on an upscale hotel/retail/apartment development in the wealthy Buffalo suburb of Amherst. In commenting on the need for $1.9 million in tax breaks, a VP of Ellicott Development said, “Hotels are difficult to take to the bank to get the financing we need.” Paladino and company must think New York taxpayers are a much easier sell.

Bio

Carl Paladino is the founder and Chairman of Ellicott Development, a commercial and retail real estate development and management company in the Buffalo-Niagara, Upstate New York and Western Pennsylvania regions. Ellicott’s properties include office, retail, flex space, hotels, residential and mixed-use projects. He has a net worth of $150 million and real estate holdings worth $500 million.

Buffalo News: Paladino inducted into critics’ ‘Hall of Shame’

August 17, 2012. With the theme music from “The Price Is Right” blaring from a loudspeaker, a woman identifying herself as “Vanna Black” accepted Carl Paladino’s induction into the “Corporate Tax Dodgers Hall of Shame” on Thursday in street theater sponsored by the Coalition for Economic Justice. Continue reading →

Induction Ceremony Photos



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