U.S. tariffs are putting the squeeze on what might seem an unlikely local business: Seabreeze Amusement Park.
A new waterslide complex being planned for next season would send riders racing from a starting point high up on 50-foot steel towers, ending in a splash run. It would be the largest single capital project in the park’s 146-year history, officials say, with an estimated $2.7 million price tag.
Or maybe more.
Seabreeze’s longtime supplier is ProSlide Technology, considered one of the top water park ride manufacturers in the world. But the company is based in Ottawa, Canada, making those waterslides subject to steep U.S. tariffs.
“The tariffs that we are now exposed to are ever-changing but can range from 10% to 50% of the slide component costs,” Seabreeze operators wrote in an application seeking financial assistance from Monroe County.
That could translate into tens of thousands of dollars in additional expense.
But as Ana Liss, executive director for the County of Monroe Industrial Development Agency, or COMIDA, noted: “They don't really know until the piece of equipment that they're purchasing hits the port how much they're going to be charged.”
To offset the added federal taxes, Seabreeze is asking COMIDA to waive local sales and use taxes. That benefit is estimated to total just less than $150,000. A public hearing on Seabreeze's request is set for 10 a.m. Thursday at Irondequoit Town Hall, with a decision by COMIDA expected on Tuesday.
In their application, Seabreeze noted that the prices of these and other amusement rides have been climbing in recent years, mirroring inflation in other construction and manufacturing sectors. Competitors, including Darien Lake in Genesee County, and Enchanted Forest in Herkimer County, have previously receive sales tax exemptions on equipment.
While state law generally prohibits the county agency from providing incentives to retail projects, there are exceptions. Tourism destinations like Seabreeze are one.
Seabreeze, operated by the fifth and sixth generations of the Norris family, claims to be the fourth-oldest amusement park in the country and the 13th-oldest in the world. The park averages 300,000 visitors annually, drawing more than a third of its guests from outside Monroe County.
This is the first time Seabreeze has sought assistance, Liss said, but it’s not the first time tariffs have played a part in a company’s ask.
“We're seeing that across the board with all of our projects,” she said.
Earlier this year, COMIDA fast-tracked a sales tax exemption for another development, which Liss declined to name, as the developer pushed to beat the tariffs and capture more savings.
Tariffs on steel, aluminum and lumber, as well as country-specific levies are hitting businesses across the spectrum, Liss said. It was a major impetus for a county program launched last month that offers “rebates” of up to $5,000 to small businesses for equipment purchases.
ProSlide, too, is seeing the effects of the trade wars as a global company with projects across the United States and around the world.
“Many of the products we manufacture and deliver into the U.S. come from countries that are now affected by U.S. tariffs — some more significantly than others,” company spokesperson Ashlea McGrath said in an emailed statement. “In turn, we're also seeing counter-tariffs from other nations, which further complicates international supply coming from the U.S.”
The resulting increases in the cost of raw materials, components and finished goods raise overall costs “particularly for U.S.-based projects,” she continued, and can “negatively impact” operations and maintenance costs and could lead to fewer projects breaking ground.
To mitigate those costs, ProSlide, which already has a diverse global supply chain, is working with individual project developers "to source from regions that aren’t affected or are more favorably aligned with current trade agreements ... matching sourcing plans to trade realities, using local suppliers where we can,” McGrath said, adding: “Our goal is to stay one step ahead.”
At Seabreeze, Chicago firm USA Inc. and the park’s in-house construction team would handle installation, the company said, assembling the more than 500 fiberglass pieces that make up the multi-lane waterslide, and its open and enclosed ride paths.
