The newly proposed smaller Stop & Shop project will generate only $32,000 in new tax dollars. This is after estimating increased police and fire department costs for responding to activity at the site, but does not appear to factor in increased costs up and down Route 10 due to the increased traffic (and corresponding accidents requiring police and fire department resources).
At best, this means a savings of $1-2 per household. If there are more than a few accidents as a result of the new traffic flow, the city could actually lose money.
The mayor spoke out at this meeting, stating that this $32,000 represented the cost of laying off a police officer. The financial impact study (available as part of the "Application for Permit" on the city website at the bottom of this page), also talks about up-front revenue in the form of building permits, etc. However, over the long term it does not appear there will be any real tax savings to the city, while most of the infrastucture improvements the city would receive probably aren't necessary if the project doesn't happen.