§ 963 — Local administration of empire zones

§ 963. Local administration of empire zones. (a) The local empire zone\nadministrative board shall:\n (i) develop short-term goals for zone activities on an annual basis;\n (ii) prepare, or cause to be prepared, an annual report and submit\ncopies to the department of audit and control, department of taxation\nand finance, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the\nassembly and department of economic development on or before the first\nday of July next succeeding the year to which the report pertains,\nregarding empire zone activities, including information which would\nallow for substantive review of the zone's strategies and progress of\nthe zone in meeting its short-term objectives, and an analysis of the\nextent to which the long-term goals set forth in the empire zone\napplication have been met. The zone administrative entities and other\nlocal officials and agencies shall fully cooperate with the zone\nadministrative board in the annual performance review and in the board's\nperformance of its other duties. Local officials, state agencies, and\ncertified businesses shall provide information requested by the zone\nadministrative board which is necessary for such review. Such report\nshall also include a current description of the specific strategies and\npriorities for economic revitalization of the zone, including, but not\nlimited to: the number of jobs created; the number of jobs retained; the\namount of private capital leveraged with public funds; the number of\nbusinesses expanded or retained and new businesses created, and the type\nof businesses expanded, retained or created, as well as consideration of\nthe improvements in the physical infrastructure of the zone. The\ncommissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to set forth\nstandards to be used to measure performance against objectives on an\nannual basis in order to facilitate the requirements of this paragraph;\n (iii) undertake efforts to ensure meaningful participation by\nminority-owned and women-owned business enterprises in empire zone\nactivities;\n (iv) enter into an agreement with the office of business permits and\nregulatory assistance to participate in a business permit assistance\nprogram to be provided to applicants for business permits required by\nthe state or a county, city, town or village for a business undertaking,\nproject or activity in an empire zone;\n (v) enter into agreements with the commissioners of economic\ndevelopment, labor, and social services, local departments of social\nservices, and local education agencies as defined in paragraph (b) of\nsubdivision one of section three thousand thirty-two of the education\nlaw, local community-based organizations, private employers, labor\nunions, the administrative entity and private industry council for the\nservice delivery area established under the job training partnership act\n(P.L. 97-300, as amended) that includes the empire zone, and any other\nperson or state or federal agency for the purpose of establishing,\nimplementing and coordinating job training programs for workers and\nbusinesses to be located in an empire zone; provided, however, that (A)\nany agreement to establish a job training program designed to meet the\nspecific needs of a private employer shall require such employer to\nretain in its employ for not less than six months an employee who has\nsatisfactorily completed a course of training for a particular job\nopening unless such employee voluntarily leaves such employment or is\ndischarged for misconduct or other good cause; (B) any job training\nprogram established pursuant to this section shall make use of the\ncommunity service division of the labor department as well as other\nsources for the purpose of recruitment;\n (vi) in cooperation with local social services officials, establish a\njob training opportunities program sponsored by private employers in\naccordance with the provisions of section one hundred sixty-four-b or\nthree hundred fifty-l of the social services law;\n (vii) enter into agreements with local departments of social services\nor community-based organizations to facilitate the provision of\nancillary or enhanced social services, including licensed and certified\nchild day care, in any such zone;\n (viii) ensure that job training programs meet standards of\ninstructional quality established in regulations promulgated by the\ncommissioner of education;\n (ix) organize or use an existing human resource development network\nwithin the zone, including a committee of representatives of human\nresource agencies and organizations serving the zone, organized labor\nand business representatives, to develop strategies and activities for\nimproving the coordination and delivery of human services to residents\nof the zone and zone businesses;\n (x) prepare and implement a small business development and assistance\nplan;\n (xi) in conjunction with zone administrative entities, develop and\nimplement a system for continuous monitoring and evaluation of zone\nperformance at the local level consistent with the guidelines set forth\nin subdivisions (k) through (o) of section nine hundred fifty-nine of\nthis article;\n (xii) provide within the zone, or contract with a new or existing\ncommunity-based local development corporation or entity to provide,\nstrategic economic development planning for the zone, marketing and\npromotion of the zone, assistance to companies in applying for available\nbenefits, preparation of applications for financing assistance and other\ntechnical assistance services; coordination of the delivery of state and\nlocal programs within the zones; and operation of such other economic\ndevelopment assistance programs in furtherance of the empire zone\ndevelopment plan as may be appropriate. Provided, however, within the\namount appropriated therefor and allocated by the director of the\nbudget, the commissioner, through annual administrative contracts,\nshall, to the maximum extent feasible, make equally available financial\nsupport, through contracts or other means, to assist with the\nadministrative expenses of the local zone administrative bodies or\ncommunity-based development organizations. No funds shall be made\navailable for this purpose unless the amount to be provided has been\nmatched by private or governmental sources, other than state sources, in\namounts at least equalling that to be provided by the state. Such\nmatching funds shall be earmarked and used exclusively for the local\nadministration of the zone program or for activities of the zone\nprogram. At least fifty percent of such matching funds shall be in cash,\nprovided that the commissioner may waive this requirement for\ncommunities with populations of twenty-five thousand or less, and\nprovided, further, that any amounts appropriated for minority and\nwomen-owned business development within the zones shall be distributed\nby the commissioner pursuant to a competitive proposal solicitation\nprocess.\n (b) The annual report of the local empire zone administrative board\nrequired by subdivision (b) of this section shall, subject to the tax\nsecrecy provisions referred to in subdivision (d) of this section,\ninclude, but not be limited to, the following information with respect\nto the year immediately preceding the year which is the subject of the\nreport:\n (i) a complete list of all property within the zone, if any, granted\nan exemption under section four hundred eighty-five-e of the real\nproperty tax law, together with the assessed value thereof and the\namount of such exemption, for each municipal corporation which granted\nsuch exemption. Such list shall also set forth for each municipal\ncorporation granting such exemption: (1) the tax rate for the year to\nwhich the report pertains; (2) the amount of real property tax that\nwould have been paid in the aggregate by the owners of real property\ngranted an exemption under section four hundred eighty-five-e of the\nreal property tax law if the property was fully taxable at that rate;\nand (3) the amount of tax actually paid in the aggregate by such owners;\n (ii) the total incremental value, if any, as defined in subdivision\n(e) of section nine hundred sixty-seven of this chapter, of taxable real\nproperty in each city, town, village or county within the empire zone,\ntogether with the total amount of tax increments which are segregated\npursuant to subdivision (g) of such section;\n (iii) the total dollar value of the refund or credit of taxes imposed\npursuant to the authority of article twenty-nine of the tax law on\nreceipts from the sale of certain materials used in constructing,\nexpanding or rehabilitating certain business property located in the\nempire zone, as authorized by clause six of subdivision (a) of section\neleven hundred nineteen of the tax law;\n (iv) the total dollar value of the refund or credit of taxes imposed\nunder article twenty-eight of the tax law on receipts from the sale of\nmaterials used in constructing, expanding or rehabilitating certain\nbusiness property located in the empire zone, as authorized by clause\nsix of subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred nineteen of the tax\nlaw;\n (v) the number of taxpayers claiming each of the following tax credits\nor refunds, together with the total amount of each credit claimed by\ntaxpayers in the aggregate against their taxes in the year to which the\nreport pertains, resulting from taxpayer activity in the empire zone or\ninvestments made by taxpayers in the capital corporation established for\nthat empire zone:\n (A) credits against the tax imposed under article nine-A of the tax\nlaw, based on investments in certain eligible property in an empire\nzone, as authorized by subdivisions twelve-B and twelve-C of section two\nhundred ten of the tax law;\n (B) credits against the tax imposed under article twenty-two of the\ntax law, based on investments in certain eligible property in the empire\nzone, as authorized by subsection (j) of section six hundred six of the\ntax law;\n (C) credits against taxes imposed under articles nine-A, twenty-two,\nthirty-two and thirty-three of the tax law, based on wages paid to\ncertain employees employed by a business located in an empire zone, as\nauthorized by subdivision nineteen of section two hundred ten,\nsubsection (k) of section six hundred six, subsection (e) of section\nfourteen hundred fifty-six and subdivision (g) of section fifteen\nhundred eleven, respectively, of the tax law;\n (D) credits against the tax law imposed under articles nine-A,\ntwenty-two, thirty-two and thirty-three of the tax law, based on\ninvestments in the stock of an empire zone capital corporation, as\nauthorized by subdivision twenty of section two hundred ten, subdivision\n(1) of section six hundred six, subsection (d) of section fourteen\nhundred fifty-six, and subdivision (h) of section fifteen hundred eleven\nof the tax law;\n (vi) the total amount of reductions in utility costs of non-retail\nbusiness customers in the empire zone, as authorized by subdivision\neight of section one hundred eighty-six-a of the tax law;\n (vii) a statement summarizing all amounts received as, and\nexpenditures made from, financial support for administrative expenses\npursuant to paragraph (vii) of subdivision (b) of this section; and\n (viii) any other information regarding empire zone activities which\nthe department of economic development may require upon its own request\nor that of the department of audit and control, department of taxation\nand finance, or the legislative commission on expenditure review.\n In addition to the information required by paragraphs (i) through\n(viii) inclusive of this subdivision, such report shall also set forth,\nwith respect to all previous years for which reports were issued, a\ncumulative summary of the total amount of real property taxes that would\nhave been received by each municipal corporation within the zone if the\nreal property granted an exemption under section four hundred\neighty-five-e of the real property tax law had been fully taxed at the\ntax rate for the appropriate year, the total amount of tax increments\nsegregated for infrastructure improvements by each city, town, village\nor county within the zone, the total amount of each of the credits or\nrefunds set forth in paragraphs (iii) through (vi) of this subdivision\nfor activities or investments within the zone, and the total amounts\nreceived and expenditures made from any financial support pursuant to\nparagraph (vii) of subdivision (b) of this section.\n (c) At the request of any local empire zone administrative board, the\ndepartment of taxation and finance, the department of economic\ndevelopment, the public service commission and any municipal corporation\nwithin the empire zone shall, to the extent that it possesses any of the\ninformation required by subdivision (c) of this section, and to the\nextent that such information can be disclosed without violating the\nsecrecy provisions contained in sections two hundred two, two hundred\neleven, six hundred ninety-seven, one thousand one hundred forty-six,\none thousand two hundred fifty, one thousand four hundred sixty-seven\nand one thousand five hundred eighteen of the tax law, provide that\ninformation to the local empire zone administrative board for inclusion\nin its annual report. The amount of any real property taxes required to\nbe set forth in the report pursuant to subdivision (c) of this section\nshall be computed and furnished to the zone's administrative board by\nthe municipality which levied the tax. The failure of any empire zone\nadministrative board to prepare and submit a report as required by\nsubdivision (b) of this section shall make the board or other\ncommunity-based development organization ineligible to receive any\nfinancial support for administrative expenses authorized by paragraph\n(vii) of subdivision (b) of this section; provided, however, that such\nfinancial assistance shall not be withheld on account of the report's\nfailure to include any information which is required by subdivision (c)\nof this section but is not available to the empire zone administrative\nboard.\n (d) The department of economic development shall provide to the\ntemporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly and the\ncommissioner of the department of taxation and finance a consolidated\nstatewide report of the information required pursuant to paragraph (ii)\nof subdivision (b) and subdivision (c) of this section. Such report by\nthe department shall contain an analysis of the performance of each zone\nusing the information obtained pursuant to paragraph (ii) of subdivision\n(b) and subdivision (c) of this section. Such report shall include, but\nnot be limited to, the number of jobs created, as derived from paragraph\none of subdivision (b) of section fourteen of the tax law, for all\nbusinesses in each zone, and the number of new businesses in each zone.\n (e) No designated empire zone shall require or solicit funds from\nbusinesses, whether certified or not, for use in the empire zones\nprogram as created by this article. No business shall be required to pay\nany funds to participate in the empire zones program.\n (f) All certified businesses, with the exception of those whose\nbenefit period as a QEZE business enterprise has expired, are required\nto provide a certified annual report to the local zone administration\nboard which report shall include but not be limited to the following:\n (i) Business certification information to include: organization name,\norganization address in the zone, contact information, federal\nemployment ID number, New York state unemployment insurance number,\nstate of formation or incorporation, verification that the business is\nauthorized to conduct business in the state of New York;\n (ii) Employment numbers calculated in the same manner in which the\nemployment number is required to be calculated by section fourteen of\nthe tax law including: total existing full-time equivalent jobs in the\nzone as of the date of certification within that zone, total existing\njobs in the zone for the year for which the report is being provided,\ntotal remuneration paid to employees in the zone each quarter of the\nreported year, total number of employees in all zones, total annual\nremuneration in all zones, total annual remuneration paid in New York\nstate for the reported year, total employment number in New York state\nfor the reported year as shown on each business' NYS-45 wage reporting\nform filed with the department of labor;\n (iii) Capital investment to include: total investment made in the zone\nfor the reported year;\n (iv) Tax benefits used and refunded: provide an estimation of the\namount of the tax benefits used and refunded for the reported year by\nthe certified business, or by the taxpayers within the certified\nbusiness including its shareholders, members, partners or the owner of a\nsole proprietorship including the wage tax credits, investment tax\ncredits, employment incentive tax credits, real property tax credit, tax\nreduction credit; and\n (v) The sales tax credits and refunds for the reported year.\n