The Jefferson County Industrial Development Agency (JCIDA) pulled the plug Wednesday on a controversial tax plan.

At issue: who has the right to dole out tax breaks to businesses and housing projects.

The JCIDA is supposed to attract business and housing for Jefferson County - that's its job - but it doesn't have the right to decide, on its own, who gets what for a tax break.

(Most businesses and housing developers want a tax break as the price for locating in northern New York.)

The issue came to a head in December, when the Watertown city school board initially balked at approving a deal for a new apartment complex off Outer Arsenal Street.

In late December, the JCIDA took the first step to taking sole authority for tax breaks. In other words, the JCIDA would decide who gets what, rather than the politically messy and public process of getting school boards, city councils and county legislatures to go along.

The JCIDA's proposal did not go over well with some elected officials, like Scott Burto, the mayor of West Carthage.

"You have now taken any incentive for a developer to come to the local municipalities and work to negotiate an agreement," said West Carthage Mayor Scott Burto.

The problem, Burto points out, is that a new housing development or business can mean the village spends more on fire and police protection, and the school district may have more students - and someone has to pay for that.

If the village or school doesn't have a say in the tax break, then it has no 'leverage,' no way to get the best deal it can for taxpayers.

Burto was not alone. Opposition to the JCIDA plan quietly built over the last week, and Wednesday afternoon, JCIDA chairman David Converse said the idea is dead.

"With everything we have going on with the housing and other projects coming in our community, it's probably not good to look at this. So, we're not going to move ahead with this at this point," said Converse.

The JCIDA's about-face will likely quiet this controversy, but may make another one worse. A tax deal for a large apartment complex on Route 202 just outside of Watertown is being negotiated now, and the deal may not satisfy some of the local governments involved.