BUFFALO, N.Y. — No wonder industrial development agencies across New York State dole out so many tax breaks, watchdog groups say: The more IDAs issue, the more money they make for themselves.
That system creates a “perverse incentive,” the groups claim in a new report.
“It just creates this horrible incentive where the IDA isn’t working for the public anymore, it’s working for its own self interest,” said Anya Gizis, a researcher at Good Jobs First and one of the report’s authors.
The report, from Washington, D.C.-based Good Jobs First and New York City-based Reinvent Albany, argues that because IDAs collect fees from each tax abatement deal they approve, they have an interest in dishing out as many as possible to fund their organizations. You can read the full story on Investigative Post's website.
