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Overview of various economic development tax incentive programs and their impacts
1:49:19
ยท
3 min
Andrew Kimball provides a comprehensive overview of various economic development tax incentive programs, emphasizing their positive impact on the city's economic recovery and growth.
- Kimball asserts that most tax incentive programs are working well and are critical for economic recovery
- He mentions specific programs like IDA, Build NYC, MCORE, and REAP
- A new program called RACE is proposed to address vacant office space issues
- Kimball highlights the importance of these programs for attracting and retaining businesses in the city
Andrew Kimball
1:49:19
Do by and large, I think they are working very well and are critical to our economic recovery right now and to growth in the future.
1:49:30
So the work that we do through IDA build and we put out our first annual report just for those two programs this year.
1:49:39
It looks back about fifteen years.
1:49:41
The positive impact of those programs is massive, and we'll make sure that we have in the record that report as well.
1:49:52
There are other programs that are new, like the MCORE program, where we believe it will have a very positive long term impact.
1:50:00
We talked about the analysis earlier.
1:50:02
You know, time will tell.
1:50:03
The council is certainly right to shine a spotlight on it and see where we are every year.
1:50:08
Is it moving?
1:50:10
On smaller business incentives, the main programs are initiated through the state legislature.
1:50:18
So the relocation assistance program, REAP, is a $3,000 per head for twelve years if you move into the city in most parts except for Midtown, or you move from Midtown to the outer boroughs so we don't lose those companies going to the suburbs or another part of the country.
1:50:39
I know from my time in the Navy or in Industry City that those programs were absolutely critical to the success along the broken waterfront.
1:50:45
I think you'd hear the same from chambers of commerce in Long Island City and in The Bronx and in Manhattan about the importance of them.
1:50:52
So those program that program is up for reauthorization.
1:50:56
The city has asked for it to be reauthorized, and it's also asked for a new tool called RACE.
1:51:02
So we have an ongoing challenge despite the fact that jobs are going very, very well.
1:51:12
Tax revenue is strong.
1:51:15
We have a hundred million square feet of vacant space.
1:51:20
Space in luxury office buildings are doing very, very well.
1:51:26
Everything else is not doing well, down about 10% the last couple years.
1:51:30
So what the RACE program does is for companies moving from outside New York City, taking over 20,000 square feet of space, there's a lot of space in pre 2,000 buildings, the older buildings that are hardest to lease, we will give them a $5,000 per employee tax break for twelve years.
1:51:49
So richer than reap, but really mirroring the moment in time in which we've got to move on that hundred million square feet of vacant space.
1:51:59
Some of that is gonna be converted to housing, but if I had to guess, maybe 10,000,000 of it, that still leaves 90,000,000.
1:52:08
So, you know, we we've gotta move to upgrade these older buildings and to help the the ones that are leasing today lease better.
1:52:15
That program would be capped if the state legislature passes it.
1:52:19
I think it's a five year cap with a certain dollar amount.
1:52:23
So again, that will be one for the council to watch, and we're very hopeful that it passes the state legislature because it's really a tool that we think we need.