The recent actions of the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency concerning the Nevele Resort & Casino project are quite disturbing. Even without the $4 million payoff the Ulster IDA received in exchange for unanimously approving a massive tax giveaway to the Nevele, allowing the Nevele to pay a paltry $175,000/year in taxes for the first five years is unconscionable, considering the revenue they anticipate. Adding the kickback to the IDA just confirms the cynicism all of us have about the inner workings of government, and is the obscene icing on an already sickening cake.

We hear it again and again — tax breaks are needed to make a project viable, possible, profitable, whatever. Are American business leaders so inept that they need government to subsidize their ambitions from start to finish? In this specific case, the justification for such a generous "ask" is to make the gaming license application "competitive". But is that really the case? Consider the two scenarios that could be presented to the State Siting Board: 1) In order to be financially viable, we need the taxpayers of Ulster County to subsidize our project to the tune of $100 million. That way, our investors make more money, which is really what is most important and how we measure success; or 2) We plan on joining our host community on an equal footing as everyone else who lives and works there. We will pay our fair share of taxes, as the project can support itself without any special treatment. We understand our presence requires significant community support: police, fire, medical, infrastructure, education, you name it, and all of it is paid for with taxes. We only ask for a fair assessment.

If you are sitting on the board, charged with deciding which project is best for the state and the community that hosts it, the second scenario seems much more compelling, doesn't it? But sadly, and perhaps tellingly, most of the license applicants choose to extract as much as they can from the taxpayers. It's all about the money.

With only perfunctory hearings towards a foregone conclusion, the IDA's decision is nothing new. Tax breaks to big business have become the norm, and hardly need any justification at all. Aiding and abetting profits seems to have become the sole purpose of our government, as the infrastructure they are responsible for crumbles away. Just drive down Route 55 towards the Rondout to see what tax breaks (and a hard winter) result in. A front-end wrecking, tire-destroying disaster of a highway. A few months ago I called the New York State DOT to complain about Route 55's condition, as a sign that one resident placed along the road encourages passing motorists to do. After going up the chain a bit, I was told that the DOT is aware of the problem and is "looking for the money." Good luck finding it. But they did do something, I have to admit. Just before the worst part begins, below the Rondout dam, they put up a sign: "Rough Road Ahead". Rough, indeed.

Last fall I voted for the constitutional amendment to allow casino gambling in the Catskills, with the hope that a thriving new resort would join our community and help this place start growing again. But upstanding members of a community pay their taxes along with everyone else, and don't ask for special treatment in exchange for bestowing their presence upon us. The Nevele should buck the trend and agree to pay their fair share. By doing so, they just might find a very receptive audience to that refreshing new approach in Albany this fall.

Alex Shiffer is the publisher of the Shawangunk Journal.