Ocean State Job Lot wants financial relief from R.I. to offset tolls

By Ana Bottary

abottary@abc6.com

@anabottary

Just days after governor Gina Raimondo signed the truck toll law. Ocean State Job Lot says it wants financial relief from the state to offset those tolls which they expect to cost them big.
 
"They have said $1 million dollars a year is something they can’t afford so they are looking for a way to soften that,"says State Representative Patricia Morgan.
 
The company putting a $50 million dollar distribution center on hold in North Kingstown, while negotiating potential tax breaks.
 
"We are always listening to businesses as we continue to do and it is possible that we might put in place a particular program later on in the session to address these issues,"says Governor Gina Raimondo.
 
State Representative Morgan says she doesn’t blame the company for its request.

"I think the management of Job Lot is acting responsibility,"she says.

Job lot wants $7.5 million in relief. The CEO tells the Providence Journal that would include waiving $1.5 million of sales tax on construction materials, as well as a $3 million tax credit against the company’s corporate tax liability and another tax credit for adding 70 or more mid- paying jobs. State Representative Daniel Reilly says handing out incentives like that  could in turn negate the money raised through tolls.
 
"At the end of the day you have to ask yourself if we are going to raise at most 45 million dollars with tolls and we are going to go hand out 50 million dollars a year in incentives, what is the point of the tolls?"says State Representative Reilly.
 
Both representative Reilly and Morgan feel it is unfair to other companies that may not be as big as ocean state job lot and cannot get these special breaks for their company.
"The tolling proposal has wide-ranging effects that we can see will hurt our economy we never should have done it," says State Representative Morgan.

"It’s good for every business in Rhode Island, it is going to make sure we have the money to fix our roads and bridges, it’s going to put 6,000 people to work. It is a definite positive for Rhode Islands Economy," says Governor Raimondo.

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