Tax Watch

Industrial development agency projects across New York received a total of $5.6 billion in financial assistance between 2008 and 2011, according to a new report today from the state Authorities Budget Office. Of that, $3 billion went to projects outside of New York City, the report said. When the aid… Read More →

This morning the state Authorities Budget Office released a list showing industrial development agencies and local development corporations that have failed to file financial reports with the state. Several agencies contacted about the list said it was an oversight or a technical mistake. “The (Yonkers Downtown Waterfront Development Corporation) is… Read More →

The director of the Authorities Budget Office, which oversees local development corporations, has sent a letter to Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino asking for information about the county’s LDC, which has run into questions about whether it has the authority to issue tax exempt bonds to nonprofits. Astorino formed the… Read More →

Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed legislation this week that abolishes the Mount Kisco Urban Renewal Agency, which was created in the 1970s. GOP Sen. Greg Ball of Patterson and Assemblyman Robert Castelli, R-Goldens Bridge, described the public authority as “moribund” and an “unnecessary layer of bureaucracy which has stymied local development … by… Read More →

Nearly 150 of the 553 state and local authorities have not filed statutorily required annual reports for 2011 with the state Authorities Budget Office and are subject to enforcement action, the agency announced today. More than half of the authorities—87—- are local development agencies. Others are state authorities (five), local… Read More →