From left, John D”™Ambrosio, president of the Orange County Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Reps. John Hall and Maurice Hinchey.
Business owners in the Hudson Valley are awaiting financial relief via the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act and it now appears the check is in the mail U.S. Reps. Maurice Hinchey, D-22nd District, and John Hall, D-19th, visited Orange County”™s Chamber of Commerce Luncheon at Anthony”™s Pier 9 in New Windsor May 4 to let leaders know what”™s coming down the pike for the mid-Hudson region as a result of the passage of the legislation.
Hinchey said his district, which includes the cities of Newburgh and Middletown, has received more than $38.6 million in funding commitments through ARRA; an additional $86.6 million is scheduled be distributed between both the 19th and 22nd districts in Orange County. The allocations include:
· Infrastructure: A new $27.8 million wastewater treatment plant in Middletown is scheduled to be built, with half the money coming to the city as a grant, the balance in zero-percent financing, added to an additional $800,000 Hinchey procured for the project.
· Public safety: $350,000 in additional funding for police departments.
· Capital projects for the military: More than $23 million for West Point and Stewart Air National Guard base, which includes funding to install solar electricity generation at the Air National Guard”™s recycling center.
· Healthcare: More than $500,000 for the Greater Hudson Valley Family Health Center and Middletown Community Health Center; and funding for electronic medical records.
According to Hinchey, “ARRA is the most ambitious economic recovery package in our nation”™s history. It will unlock lending and investment for small business, provide tax relief for entrepreneurs and put small businesses back to work rebuilding the infrastructure.” Hinchey told the chamber”™s audience the administration estimates more than 150,000 jobs have been saved and/or created nationally since the legislation was signed and another 3.5 million jobs are expected to be saved and/or created by the end of 2010.
Since ARRA became law, more than $27 billion has “already been sent to the states for infrastructure improvement projects,” said Hinchey. “As these projects get under way, small engineering, construction and contracting firms are going to see a greater demand for their services.”
ARRA targets $15 billion in tax relief to small business by increasing Section 179 spending limits, Hinchey told chamber members. “This lets small business owners fully depreciate capital purchases for items like trucks, computers and other equipment the same year they are purchased, encouraging them to make purchases now, while putting more money back into their pockets this year so they can grow.
“ARRA will also extend the carry-back period for net operating losses from two to five years, permitting small businesses that have suffered losses to go back to years when they made a profit and receive a tax refund. By carrying back losses from this year to profitable years in which they paid taxes,” said Hinchey, “small businesses can receive a refund now for taxes paid during the past, providing an immediate cash infusion, encouraging them to expand and reinvest in operations.”
ARRA will delay the 3 percent withholding tax on payments to government contractors and provide relief from the alternative minimum tax. “With the small business credit market essentially frozen, ARRA is geared to unlock $21 billion in new lending and investment for small firms,” said Hinchey. “By increasing the amount of a loan the Small Business Administration will back, ARRA encourages lenders to make those loans to small business; specifically by providing direct, interest-free loans of up to $35,000 for firms facing immediate difficulty paying off existing debts.”
Loans through the SBA would be interest free, and repayment would not begin for one year. The goal is to make loans less expensive for small business borrowers by eliminating fees normally built into SBA-backed loans.
Hall told the audience, “I came with notes, but Mr. Hinchey has essentially covered everything I came to talk about, so I won”™t be redundant.” One thing Hall added to Hinchey”™s list was that he”™s asked chain stores, such as Walmart and Stop-and-Shop to start selling locally grown produce. “I”™ve been speaking to national representatives and other chain markets to carry Orange County onions,” said Hall. “Bringing local produce to our stores is going to help our local economy tremendously.”
Hall also reminded Realtors in the audience that the $8,000 tax credit for first-time home-buyers can be a useful tool in helping sell homes in the financially depressed marketplace. “There is also $400 million allocated to the weatherization program; that”™s more than twice what the entire country saw last year,” he said. “In Dutchess, we weatherized 180 homes in 2008. This year, we”™ve already got 1,000 on the list.” The weatherization program is available to those who earn under $60,000 a year. The increase in weatherization funding will also help put local contractors to work, added Hall.
Both Hinchey and Hall agreed the state”™s method of financing schools is in “dire need of repair” and hope the stimulus package will help residents with their school tax bills.
“We shouldn”™t be funding schools the way they did in the 18th century,” said Hinchey. “It may have worked then, but it isn”™t working today.” As Hinchey spoke, school districts around the region were readying their 2009-2010 budgets, which will represent double-digit increases for some homeowners and businesses in the Hudson Valley.
“We”™re the country that put the first man on the moon,” said Hall. When it comes to breaking out of the recession and getting the nation back on track, “I know we can do this.”
