Insert “Fish or Cut Bait” Joke Here

There seems to be a growing grumbling about Bass Pro. As typically happens with Buffalo projects that are announced with a flourish and then go nowhere, people just don’t care anymore. The thrill, to quote BB King, is gone.

Back in June, a group of which I’d never before heard called the Public Accountability Initiative issued a report critical of the incentives being offered to Bass Pro. Earlier this week, the New York Power Authority cut a deal with the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation to accelerate funding, enabling the ECHDC to raise $105MM for the project through bonding.

Prior to that event, Andrew Stecker from the Public Accountability Initiative issued this statement to the ECHDC board:

On June 2nd, the Public Accountability Initiative released a report on Bass Pro’s history of receiving government subsidies. The report found that while state and local governments have consistently awarded subsidies for the construction of new Bass Pro stores based on the assumption that these stores promote economic development, these benefits have rarely, if ever materialized.

Given that Bass Pro is not a surefire economic development engine, it is imperative that public policy makers protect the public’s investment by conducting appropriate due diligence research, and by implementing clawback provisions. Unfortunately, the ECHDC has shown no interest in taking these steps.

Given the dubious nature of the economic development claims supporting the Canal Side project, the allocation of funding from NYPA represents a gross misuse of public money. This project will use the entire funding stream from the Buffalo Waterfront Development fund, in addition to an Industrial Incentive Award, to borrow money for the construction of the Bass Pro store, parking garages, and surrounding infrastructure. We believe that the Waterfront Development fund, secured during the relicensing of the Niagara Power Project, should have been allocated through a more transparent, open, and competitive process. However, the ECHDC’s obsession with Bass Pro from day one has precluded the agency from considering any alternatives. The ECHDC has failed to justify why the subsidization of a Bass Pro store is the best use of this funding.

As for the Industrial Incentive Award, we find it extremely disconcerting that while most IIAs are given for one or a few years to New York State manufacturing companies in the form of discounted electricity tied to job creation and retention goals, the Canal Side IIA has a term of 20 years, is in the form of cash, and will be going to a retail development with no requirement to meet job goals. Additionally, this IIA is far larger than most others awarded by NYPA. For the next 20 years, one-third to one-half of the Expansion Power block from the Niagara Power Project will be devoted to the debt payments on the Canal Side Bass Pro.

We believe that the Canal Side project in its current form is improper, unwise, and contrary to the public interest of the citizens of New York State. We urge all interested parties to oppose this project, and take whatever steps necessary to prevent further squandering of public funds by these runaway public authorities.

I think there’s a sense out there that the ECHDC has become so positively obsessed with Bass Pro that the public perceives it negatively. As if we’re giving away the farm so that a sporting goods store – whose appeal is greatly diminished during the great Recession and what may very well be a post-consumerist society – can locate here.

As with most projects that take 10 years of bitching and moaning before there’s palpable progress (hi, Peace Bridge!), I’ve become ambivalent about Bass Pro. Canal Side, I think, is a great project. But perhaps another, less demanding anchor tenant might be in order at this point. Or several.

In addition, the establishment of a sales-tax-free zone in downtown Buffalo would be a bigger draw for people and bait stores than complicated state-generated economic incentive packages.