N.Y. GMU Law § 960 — New York Code / Act GMU / Article 18-B / Section 960
Designation of empire zones
Status: in_force

§ 960. Designation of empire zones. (a) The empire zones designation\nboard is hereby created. Such board shall consist of the commissioner of\ntaxation and finance, the director of the budget, the commissioner of\nlabor and two members to be appointed by the governor; one member to be\nappointed by the temporary president of the senate; one member to be\nappointed by the speaker of the assembly; and two non-voting members,\none of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the senate and\none of whom shall be appointed by the minority leader of the assembly.\nThe governor shall designate from among the voting members the chairman\nof the board. Each member of the board shall be entitled to designate a\nrepresentative to attend meetings of the board in his or her place, and\nto vote or otherwise act on his or her behalf in his or her absence.\nNotice of such designation shall be furnished in writing to the board by\nthe designating member. A representative shall serve at the pleasure of\nthe designating member. A representative shall not be authorized to\ndelegate any of his or her duties or functions to any other person.\n  (a-1) The empire zones designation board may consider designating\nempire zone acreage for the following categories of regionally\nsignificant projects as set forth in section nine hundred fifty-seven of\nthis article: agri-business or high tech or biotech business making a\ncapital investment of ten million dollars and creating twenty or more\njobs; or a financial or insurance services or distribution center\ncreating three hundred or more jobs; or a clean energy research and\ndevelopment enterprise. Such consideration shall be upon application\nsubmitted by the commissioner. Such application shall be made after a\npublic hearing in accordance with section nine hundred sixty-nine of\nthis article and in accordance with findings which shall consider\nfactors including but not limited to: the creation and retention of a\nregionally significant number of skilled or otherwise quality jobs;\nsubstantial capital investment; or the export of a substantial amount of\ngoods or services beyond the immediate region; and further findings as\nto why such project cannot be accommodated within the distinct and\nseparate contiguous areas pursuant to section nine hundred fifty-seven\nof this article. Such findings shall be published once a week for four\nsuccessive weeks, in two newspapers of the county of which the project\nis to be located or if no newspaper is published therein, in the\nnewspaper nearest thereto.  Proof of such publication shall be submitted\nto the board. The board shall not act on such project or projects until\nthirty days of the final publication of such findings.\n  (a-2) The empire zones designation board may consider designating\nempire zone acreage for other regionally significant projects in\naccordance with section nine hundred fifty-seven of this article, upon\napplication submitted by the commissioner. Such application shall be\nmade after a public hearing in accordance with section nine hundred\nsixty-nine of this article and in accordance with findings which shall\nconsider factors including, but not limited to: the creation and\nretention of a regionally significant number of skilled or otherwise\nquality jobs; substantial capital investment; or the export of a\nsubstantial amount of goods or services beyond the immediate region; and\nfurther findings as to why such project cannot be accommodated within\nthe distinct and separate contiguous areas pursuant to section nine\nhundred fifty-seven of this article. Such findings shall be published\nonce a week for four successive weeks, in two newspapers of the county\nof which the project is to be located or if no newspaper is published\ntherein, in the newspaper nearest thereto. Proof of such publication\nshall be submitted to the board. The board shall not act on such project\nor projects until thirty days of the final publication of such findings.\nProvided, however, that the commissioner shall promulgate rules and\nregulations for the implementation of this subdivision after approval by\nthe empire zones designation board. Provided further, approval of such\nprojects and related regulations requires an affirmative vote by at\nleast five voting members of such board.\n  (a-3) The empire zones designation board shall approve the initial\ndistinct and separate contiguous areas as required by section nine\nhundred fifty-seven of this article. Provided, however, such approval\nshall be by unanimous vote.\n  (b) The empire zones designation board shall designate from the\nrecommendations made by the commissioner:\n  (i) Within eighteen months after the effective date of this article,\nnot more than ten empire zones;\n  (ii) In the period commencing eighteen months and ending three years\nafter the effective date of this article, not more than nine additional\nempire zones until a maximum of nineteen empire zones have been\nestablished statewide;\n  (iii) In the period commencing three years and ending eight years\nafter the effective date of this article, not more than fifteen\nadditional empire zones;\n  (iv) In the period commencing five years and ending nine years and six\nmonths after the effective date of this article, not more than six\nadditional empire zones;\n  (v) In the period commencing nine years and six months after the\neffective date of this article, not more than twelve additional empire\nzones each which shall contain a defense or military base or facility\nwhich has been designated for closure or realignment or a site currently\nor formerly owned or operated by either the (1) United States military\nor (2) a defense contractor whose employment in New York state was\nadversely affected by a reduction in military spending;\n  (vi) In the period commencing thirteen years after the effective date\nof this article, not more than fourteen additional empire zones, not\nless than three of which shall be designated pursuant to the criteria\nset forth in subdivision (d) of section nine hundred fifty-eight of this\narticle;\n  (vii) In the period commencing fifteen years after the effective date\nof this article, not more than four additional empire zones, all of\nwhich shall be designated pursuant to the criteria set forth in\nsubdivisions (a), (b), (c) and (d) of section nine hundred fifty-eight\nof this article;\n  (viii) In the period commencing fifteen years after the effective date\nof this article, not more than two additional empire zones, all of which\nshall be designated pursuant to the criteria set forth in subdivisions\n(a), (b), (c) and (d) of section nine hundred fifty-eight of this\narticle.\n  (ix) In the period commencing nineteen years after the effective date\nof this article, not more than three additional empire zones, as\ndetermined pursuant to a memorandum of understanding to be executed by\nthe governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of\nthe assembly, each of which shall be designated from among the counties\nidentified in subdivision (f) of section nine hundred fifty-eight of\nthis article.\n  (x) In the period commencing twenty years after the effective date of\nthis article, not more than six additional empire zones, as determined\npursuant to a memorandum of understanding to be executed by the\ngovernor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of the\nassembly, all of which shall be designated from among the counties\nidentified in subdivision (f) of section nine hundred fifty-eight of\nthis article. Provided, however, said designation does not include\ncounties designated pursuant to paragraph (ix) of this subdivision.\n  (xi) In the period commencing twenty-one years after the effective\ndate of this article, not more than three additional empire zones, as\ndetermined pursuant to a memorandum of understanding to be executed by\nthe governor, the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of\nthe assembly, all of which shall be designated from among the counties\nidentified in subdivision (f) of section nine hundred fifty-eight of\nthis article. Provided, however, said designation does not include\ncounties designated pursuant to paragraphs (ix) and (x) of this\nsubdivision.\n  (xiii) Within six months after the effective date of this paragraph,\nthe Oneida-Herkimer empire zone may be designated as two separate two\nsquare mile empire zones as designated pursuant to a memorandum of\nunderstanding to be executed by the governor, the temporary president of\nthe senate and the speaker of the assembly.\n  (c) In reviewing applications for designation of an area as an empire\nzone, the board shall consider the level of local participation\nincluding, but not limited to, local tax incentives and the provision of\nlocal services.\n  (d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this article, such zones\ndesignated, shall be, as far as practicable, equally distributed between\nurban, suburban and rural areas. In addition, zone designation, as far\nas practicable, shall be based upon a priority system of economic need.\n  (e) (i) The department of audit and control, the department of\ntaxation and finance and the department of economic development shall\nprepare reports on the management and the economic and fiscal impact of\nempire zones. The analysis of the fiscal and economic impact of the\nempire zones shall include, but not be limited to, a review of the cost\nof providing the tax benefits referred to in section nine hundred\nsixty-six of this article and the amount of real property tax increments\nsegregated for infrastructure improvements as authorized by section nine\nhundred sixty-seven of this article. Such reports shall be transmitted\nto the governor and the legislature by September first, two thousand six\nand every year thereafter.\n  (ii) (1) whether quantifiable benefits attributable to the program\njustify its direct costs to the state and participating localities;\n  (2) whether the program has contributed to the economic revitalization\nof the zones by stimulating (A) the creation and retention of permanent,\nfull-time, quality private sector jobs; (B) the creation, location and\nexpansion of businesses in the zones; (C) capital and human resource\ninvestments by zone businesses and new business development; and (D)\npublic and private investments in zone businesses and economic and\ncommunity development activities important for economic revitalization;\n  (3) whether the program has created employment and business\ndevelopment opportunities for residents of the zones and job training\nopportunities for residents and employees of zone businesses;\n  (4) whether the program has (A) resulted in new and improved local\nadministrative capacity within the zones to plan for and capture\neconomic opportunities and deliver and coordinate economic, community\nand human resource development services, and (B) increased commitments\nof local resources to zone revitalization, including support from the\nbusiness community;\n  (5) whether the program has stimulated assistance from state, federal\nand other economic, community and human resource development programs\nrelative to other areas and improved the delivery and coordination of\nstate services to the zones; and\n  (6) whether the program is being managed and evaluated effectively at\nstate and local levels.\n