As NYC courts Amazon and other big-name corporations, there is almost always talk of tax breaks. Often, the city relies on incentives offered by the state. When Amazon decided to open an office in Hudson Yards, for instance, up to $20 million in state tax credits were part of the deal.

But NYC offers its own tax breaks, too, through its industrial development agency. The agency is part of a statewide system in need of reform, with the evidence provided in a recent report from the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission.

Statewide, 107 IDAs distribute hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks. Often, it’s hard for the public to know whether the breaks made the difference for a company to locate here and whether it created the jobs promised.

A bill that would build upon the state’s film tax credit has been sent to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desk for signing or vetoing. And like they did last summer, supporters and opponents are squaring off over the measure.

As an added twist, the TV Diversity Tax Credit bill, which would provide incentives for hiring minority and women in key behind-the-scenes roles comes as the entertainment industry has been rocked by a flood of complaints about sexual harassment of women. Supporters say this highlights the need for women in high-profile jobs when it comes to TV production.

Carol Kellerman, president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a fiscal watchdog group, noted that the existing film tax credit started life as a $25 million-a-year program but has since grown into a “$420 million behemoth.”

“There will be pressure to continue expanding these credits,” she said. She added that even though the proposal may be limited at $5 million annually, it provides for requests that are beyond that cap to simply be carried over into the next year.

“We believe that the film and TV production credit is already far too large and that it is a mistake to add another, politically attractive but fiscally dubious branch to it,” added John Kaehny, executive director of Reinvent Albany.

The TV credit measure was one of 73 bills sent to the governor’s desk last week, said David Friedfel, the CBC’s director of state studies.
Kellerman said that other economic development credits and spending measure should be vetoed as well, given the lack of transparency and estimated cost, which her group pegs at $5 billion per year.

“The state already spends $5 billion on economic development programs; no new programs should be approved until reforms are put in place to improve evaluation, procurement and disclosure requirements and existing spending is effectively evaluated.

The Nassau County Industrial Development Agency postponed a public hearing this week to discuss a developer’s request for a 15-year tax break to convert a vacant office building on Park Avenue into 23 apartments, after a number of residents called on the agency to reschedule the meeting, saying there was no public notification.

Local IDAs have come under fire for approving projects that many say create little or no economic benefit — such as car dealerships and storage facilities — and tend to favor developers and businesses. In a recent report, the Citizens Budget Commission said that IDAs “do not have a strong record of making sound economic development investments.”

From time to time, members of the New York City Council have been known to disagree with Mayor Bill de Blasio. But do they have the right to formally do so in court?

That question is being addressed by a judge in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, after a group of five council members moved to file an amicus brief on behalf of a plaintiff in a lawsuit over New York City’s property tax system.

The underlying property tax lawsuit was filed against the city and the state in April by Tax Equity Now New York, a coalition whose backers include homeowners, renters, the Citizens Budget Commission, real estate developers and the N.A.A.C.P., among others. They are represented by James Brandt and Judge Jonathan Lippman, the state’s former chief judge, of the law firm Latham and Watkins.

The city jail budget has exploded to an all-time high during the de Blasio administration — with the average annual total cost of housing a single inmate topping over $270,000, a new report has found.

The city shelled out $1.36 billion to run Rikers Island and its other jails in the 2017 fiscal year — a 44% jump since 2014.

"They've hired more. They've spent a lot more on security," said Carol Kellermann, president of the Citizens Budget Commission. "It doesn't mean it's being done in the most efficient and effective way."

There's high turnover among correction officers, which also drives up costs. "There's a lot of money being spent on overtime, because they have unfilled slots, and also training," she said.

The union 1199SEIU received $2.3 million, or about a fifth, of the funds distributed to New York's community-based organizations during the first two years of DSRIP, the state's Medicaid-reform initiative, according to a report released Monday by the Citizens Budget Commission.

Time and again, Long Island’s industrial development agencies have shown they’re dysfunctional and fragmented, at times giving tax breaks to meaningless projects that neither create jobs nor bring significant change to the region. Time and again, the lack of oversight, standards and enforcement produces a system that rewards businesses and developers while hurting local taxpayers.

Recent attempts to provide tax breaks for the Green Acres Mall and for luxury apartments on Long Beach’s “superblock” are among more egregious examples. A recent report from the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission provided a commendable analysis of the problems, although some of its recommendations might not be the right solutions.

Fiscal experts around New York see signs that the state's budget deficit for next year is growing, but the official word from Gov. Andrew Cuomo's budget office has been ... silence.

In addition to the spectre of federal health cuts, the ongoing efforts to overhaul the federal tax code have contributed to the volatility in tax collections, economists havesaid since March. The thinking is that some wealthy New Yorkers may be delaying the sale of assets in the hope that any income they get will be taxed at a lower rate.

But David Friedfel, director of state studies at the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission, said an examination of DiNapoli's data shows that tax refunds are higher than expected — a possible indication that "the money's not being shifted, it's just not coming."

The financial plan would help him know for sure.

"It's important for the public as well as outside analysts of government to understand what the state thinks revenues and spending is going to come to for the coming years," he said. "So people have an idea of what's coming."

Behind this is a broken system of local, county and state development authorities that offer these incentives, according to a recent report by the Citizens Budget Commission, a watchdog group. It found these entities overlap and fail to coordinate. That only encourages developers to shop around and play one community against the other to get a better deal. Who can blame them?

After clinching an easy victory Tuesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio immediately signaled an interest in the national stage, but growing problems at home loom as he begins his second term.

“He’s had really good times, and he may not be able to continue in the ‘expansive investment’ mode that he talks about. I don’t know that the administration is really acknowledging or ready for that eventuality,” Carol Kellermann, president of the nonpartisan Citizens Budget Commission, said in an interview.

“He achieved pattern bargaining and he got them all done and you can argue about whether the raises were not enough [or] too much, but they were all decided and predictable and built into his financial plan,” she said of the contracts. “Now, here we are again. And I think it’s a time to be prudent about building in significant increases because you may be in a situation where some of your revenue dries up.”

The New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority may have to raise fares and tolls faster than planned if new sources of funding are not found soon, according to an analysis of the MTA’s financial plan released Thursday by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.

Jamison Dague, director of infrastructure studies at the Citizens Budget Commission, lauded the report.

“The comptroller's financial outlook for the MTA highlights many of the concerns CBC has raised over the past two years: that MTA performance has been declining; that the agency's financial plan is susceptible to an economic downturn, that the Subway Action Plan will require ongoing operating costs ; and that the current capital program misprioritizes limited capital funding."

As a candidate in 2013, fresh off his Democratic primary win, Bill de Blasio appeared before the Association for a Better New York, using the powerful perch to outline in new detail how his mayoralty would seek to end income inequality.

The speech was well received by the group of the well-heeled and civil-minded, who had generally eyed him with suspicion, given his campaign rhetoric.

Since then, the mayor has used his appearances before the association to unveil major new initiatives, including plans to address homelessness and to improve the performance of schools.

Carol Kellermann, the president of the Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan group, agreed, but added that “it would have been better, even better, if he specifically urged the audience” — some of whom are donors to Democrats and Republicans alike — “to express their concerns to particular New York House members who are in favor or on the fence about voting against the legislation.”