Written by Michael Moran on July 13, 2010 – 6:22 am
Syracuse.com reporter Rick Moriarity reports on the various views on the new Excelsior Jobs program.
He writes: “New York’s new jobs program is most notable for what it doesn’t include.
What the Excelsior program does not include are tax credits for law firms, shopping malls, power plants and other businesses that are unlikely to leave the state. It also will not help companies that fail to create promised jobs.
In other words, it won’t make the same mistakes made by the much-maligned Empire Zone program, the program it is replacing. That’s a promise from the man in charge.
“We’ve got a solid program, a lot different than the one we had before,” said Dennis Mullen, chairman and CEO of Empire State Development Corp., the state’s economic development agency.”
But, Moriarity goes on to note concerns of The Business Council of New York State: “Ken Pokalsky, senior director of government affairs for the state Business Council, said the council agrees with the program’s focus on strategic industries. But he said its limit of $50 million in new tax credits each year is not enough. That’s less than half the new credits issued each year of the Empire Zone program after it was amended to limit abuses, he said.
Pokalsky said the program’s property tax credit, in particular, is too limited. High property taxes are among the most pressing problems for businesses in New York, so greater relief is necessary, he said.
The Business Council also objects to the program’s prohibition against “double dipping.” A company that is receiving Empire Zone benefits will not be allowed into the Excelsior program. Pokalsky said companies should be allowed to collect tax credits under either program for separate facilities. As the law is written, a company that has a facility in an Empire Zone cannot receive benefits for a different facility under the Excelsior program, he said.”