Editorial Rebuts Letter to the Editor
“Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful…. and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind” – George Orwell
July 2, 2021
Kingston, NY – Sticking pins into the Kingstonian developers’ hot air balloons has let out some of the gas.
The way supporters gushed when developers Brad Jordan and Joe Bonura Jr. first presented their project, you’d have thought it would end world hunger, or at least save the starving children.
Now their cheerleaders have scaled down the effluvium, instead urging people “to stop demanding the “perfect” project and accept those projects that take a step in the right direction,” according to S. Fornal’s letter to the editor that appeared in Kingstonwire following a July 5 opinion piece by Hugh Reynolds.
But is it the right direction? Here is a point-by-point rebuttal.
A frequently-cited talking point in support of the $30 million tax break has been the (misappropriated) economic principle of “supply and demand.” What project cheerleaders fail to mention is the equally important principle of “ceteris paribus,” which is Latin for “all things being equal.” For example, you can increase production of Wagu beef, but that will have no effect on the price of hamburger. The same holds for the Kingstonian, which will build high rent apartments but does nothing to increase housing, or housing affordability, for the low wage earners who are being priced out of Kingston and Ulster County.
A second talking point has been the low vacancy rate in Kingston. In fact, we don’t really know, because an honest and thorough study has yet to be conducted. In February of 2020, one study found a 6.7% vacancy rate in Kingston. A more recent study by the county came up with likelier numbers but was based on responses, a method that seldom provides an accurate picture.
If the tax break is blocked by the higher courts, it is true that the project in its current iteration involving the City’s parcel may not go through. But landowner Jordan has said publicly that either way, he will develop his parcels. The issue is not whether they will be developed. The issue is whether the people of Kingston and Ulster County should pay for luxury housing and a garage. As for parking, many observers have questioned the number of new spots to be created, with some estimating that spots available to the public may even be reduced.
As for clawbacks, they are irrelevant if new projected jobs are de minimis (they are), and may also be irrelevant if projected wages are so low as to contribute to widening inequality (they do).
Lastly, a handful of supporters perseverate that the developers will pay something, and something is better than nothing. But is it? NYS Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli has pointed out time and again that such tax breaks result in higher tax burdens for everyone else or lowered services for all. Economists agree, and add that wildly optimistic estimates of new tax revenue touted by developers generally fail to materialize, as explained in several podcasts by The Hudson Valley Vindicator. A few million dollars paid into public coffers spread out over 25 years are meaningless if demands on infrastructure and services such as police and schools exceed moneys paid, which is the overwhelming likelihood.
This point-by-point response took little time to write, because economists and observers have debunked the letter writer’s stale arguments many times over. If only the PR team would come up with something novel, it would afford The Hudson Valley Vindicator many happy hours unpacking a fresh, imagination-filled round of lies floated to justify a welfare-for-millionaires scheme to defraud the people of Kingston and Ulster County.
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