New York - Corporate tax breaks for housing and economic development projects cost New York City $3 billion in fiscal 2016, according to a Reuters’ review of a first-of-its kind report from the city’s chief fiscal officer.
The city’s latest annual financial report from Comptroller Scott Stringer, released on Monday, was the first in the United States to include new mandated information about how much these tax abatements have cost the city.
“New Yorkers deserve to know where their tax dollars are being spent, and this disclosure brings more transparency to New York City’s tax abatement programs than ever before,” Stringer said in a statement to Reuters.
The city’s abatements cost more than $2.5 billion, but another $500 million in revenues was lost via state-administered subsidy programs.
There was no impact on the city’s financial statements as a result of the new rule, the report noted.
“He even gave us two years of data so we can begin to analyze trends, which is above and beyond the technical requirements of Statement No. 77,” LeRoy said.
The New York City charter, for instance, requires detailed reporting on tax breaks from its main economic development agency. The city’s finance department separately reports affordable housing tax breaks - about $1.2 billion in fiscal 2016.
Most of the real estate tax abatement have gone to the builders of luxury housing to make it more appealing to the first buyers while the more moderate priced housing received no tax break The real estate industry keep on putting up extra tall apt houses ,without regards for how people will have room on the subways and streets.