BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) - A $1.7 million tax exemption has been approved by Broome County's The Agency for Canopy Growth, the company planning to leading the industrial hemp push in Broome County.
The Agency is Broome County's economic development arm.
The exemption is a standard payment-in-lieu-of taxes, or PILOT, program. The company will save $1.7 million over 15 years.
Canopy Growth is based in Canada and opened $150 million industrial park in Kirkwood dedicated to hemp this summer. The product is similar to marijuana, but doesn't contain enough of the chemical THC to produce the high associated with marijuana. Industrial hemp can be used to make a variety of products, but the industry has been hampered by state and federal restrictions.
State and federal officials from New York have worked to cut those regulations and open the industrial hemp industry in Broome County.
Canopy Growth representatives defend the tax breaks as an investment. They plan to be leaders that will help bring other hemp companies to the Southern Tier.
At a public hearing this week, Kirkwood Town Supervisor Gordon Kniffen expressed concern over Canopy Growth's ability to meet those promises and said he was frustrated over a lack of communication.