Judge upholds veto of Amazon tax break in Orange County
A Goshen judge left intact an $80.2 million veto of Amazon’s Wawayanda tax break, keeping Orange County’s biggest warehouse fight centered on jobs, revenue and taxpayer risk.
Orange County’s court fight over an $80.2 million Amazon tax break ended with the county’s Industrial Development Agency losing its bid to revive the deal, leaving a state monitor’s veto in place for a proposed warehouse project in Wawayanda. The ruling keeps alive a larger question for taxpayers: whether Orange County can still use major incentives to lure employers without giving away too much in public value.
The project at the center of the dispute is a 3.2-million-square-foot Amazon distribution and fulfillment center planned for about 100 acres near McBride Road, Hoops Road and Route 6, outside Middletown. The development has been described as a roughly $607 million investment, and the IDA said it would have been the biggest private investment in Orange County. Agency projections tied to the proposal called for more than 750 permanent jobs and about $70 million in new tax revenue.
The Orange County Industrial Development Agency approved about $31 million in incentives in October 2025, then sued in January 2026 after state-appointed monitor Brian Sanvidge attempted to veto the package on Nov. 25, 2025. Orange County Supreme Court in Goshen dismissed the challenge and left the veto in place, effectively ending the county agency’s effort to restore the tax break.
Bill Fioravanti, the IDA’s executive director, said the agency was disappointed by the outcome but respected the judicial process. State Sen. James Skoufis, one of the most visible opponents of the deal, called the decision a vindication of the oversight system and said the monitor had sought information Amazon and the IDA would not provide. He also blasted the agency for spending public money to fight the veto.
The ruling lands differently across Wawayanda and the rest of the county. Supporters, including the Hudson Valley Building & Construction Trades Council, the Construction Contractors Association of the Hudson Valley and the Orange County Partnership, had backed the project as a construction and tax-base boost at a time when local households and governments are being squeezed by higher costs. Opponents, including Save Wawayanda and Protect Orange County, argued the deal failed to meet tax-break guidelines and shifted too much risk onto residents.
The oversight structure that produced the veto was created in the state’s Fiscal Year 2023 budget after a run of Orange County IDA controversies, including the Milmar Food Group tax break dispute. State officials posted the request for information in August 2023, later issued a request for proposals in November 2023, and installed Sanvidge as monitor in March 2024 with a three-year term funded by the IDA. With the Amazon challenge dismissed, the case now stands as a warning shot for future IDA deals and the public cost of chasing large industrial projects.
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