Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Town supervisors and councilmembers say they don't anticipate big boosts in revenue from sales taxes once retail and manufacturing resume in Western New York.
In Cheektowaga, Supervisor Diane Benczkowski says "I don't foresee opening the flood gates right away. I think it's going to be gradual, so for us to make up all the sales tax revenue, it's not going to happen quickly. It depends on how this rolls out, how many people come out. There are people afraid to go out in public so I don't see us rebounding with the sales tax revenue."
Over on Grand Island, Supervisor John Whitney says the region is suffering from the shutdown, especially with the border closed. "We see a lot of Canadians. Erie County benefits greatly from this. They come to sporting events and that's a price we're going to pay," says Whitney.
There is a project rumored to be Amazon that appears to be on hold. "It's Project Olive. I don't have any confirmation it is Amazon," says Whitney, who says that project's been on hold since NY Pause. "We were scheduled to hold a public hearing on April 8th. I issued a state of emergency on March 16th, stating all public hearing, advisory board hearings were suspended until further notice," adds Whitney. "At this time we're trying to put together a Zoom meeting for a virtual public hearing, and we'll have to hold it open to people who don't have the technology to get through that. It's part of the new normal, I guess."