For about five years now, Niagara Falls Mayor Robert Restaino has been pushing his $200 million Centennial Park legacy project—at the expense of looking at potentially much more financially worthy projects like the $1.5 billion data center proposed by NFR—and so far there are no legitimate financial backers for the mayor’s plan even given a new feasibility study that delivers no commercial foundation for success. No commitments to support the project financially from anybody.
The feasibility study is a narrative that delivers more of the same wishful thinking that the mayor has been selling but nothing concrete that investors can realistically bank on. The biggest potential investors right now in the mayor’s plan are Niagara Falls taxpayers who could be on the hook for $200 million in principal and roughly $340 million in lifetime debt service. And of course sprinkle in the hundreds of thousands if not millions in legal fees that have accrued and the cost of acquiring the South End land parcel from NFR and the cost is many, many millions.
Let’s put it this way. The mayor’s plan lacks New York State support which is having financial problems of its own; a verified private investor, and a sustainable operating plan, conditions that make it economically indefensible and politically untenable. And lacks any state support which is having financial problems of its own. In other words, the taxpayers would get killed as things stand now and the return for all that taxpayer investment would be highly speculative and mostly underwhelming. Taxpayers would bear the burden and get mostly empty promises in return. Doesn’t sound like the kind of deal that would give Niagara Falls residents hope for the future, just a further commitment to pay higher taxes for a very, very long time.
Now let’s get down to the nitty gritty, and it is not pleasant if you are a taxpayer facing an uphill climb to nowhere…