What's happening
This bill requires local legislative approval for industrial development agency tax exemptions and restricts aid if a project doesn't need such exemptions.
Why it matters
Empowers local governments and school districts. By requiring legislative approval from each affected city, town, village, and school district before granting tax exemptions or payment-in-lieu-of-taxes (PILOT) agreements, the bill gives local communities greater control over decisions that directly impact their tax base and budgets.
Targets genuine economic need. The bill prevents Industrial Development Agencies (IDAs) from providing financial assistance to projects that could proceed without tax exemptions, aiming to ensure that tax breaks are only used as incentives for developments that truly require them, rather than subsidizing projects that would happen anyway.
Potentially limits unchecked tax abatements. By adding a layer of oversight and restricting aid to only necessary cases, the legislation seeks to reduce the risk of lost local revenue due to overly generous or unnecessary tax breaks, which can shift the tax burden to other taxpayers or reduce funding for public services.
Albany, before your first meeting.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Limit Tax Breaks for Companies
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
2 Co-sponsors
History
- Enacting clause stricken
- Referred to local governments
- Referred to local governments
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2443
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 20, 2017
Introduced by M. of A. SKARTADOS, STECK -- read once and referred to the Committee on Local Governments
AN ACT to amend the general municipal law, in relation to restricting an industrial development agency's authority to issue a payment in lieu of tax exemption or a property tax exemption
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 4 of section 874 of the general municipal law is amended by adding a new paragraph (c) to read as follows:
(c) Any exemptions from real property tax payments or any agreements requiring payments in lieu of taxes that are created pursuant to the provisions of this section or this chapter shall require the agency to seek prior legislative approval from the governing body or bodies of the affected city, town or village tax jurisdictions, including local school districts, before issuing approval for any payment in lieu of tax exemption or any property tax exemption.
§ 2. Section 862 of the general municipal law is amended by adding a new subdivision 3 to read as follows:
(3) No financial assistance of the agency shall be used in respect of any project if the applicant is able to complete its plan without the necessity of a payment in lieu of tax exemption as provided in section eight hundred seventy-four of this title or a property tax exemption.
§ 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01545-01-7
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.