NY Gen Mun L § 963 (2021)
2021 New York Laws GMU - General Municipal Article 18-B - New York State Empire Zones 963 - Local Administration of Empire Zones.

§ 963. Local administration of empire zones. (a) The local empire zone administrative board shall:  (i) develop short-term goals for zone activities on an annual basis;  (ii)  prepare,  or  cause  to be prepared, an annual report and submit copies to the department of audit and control,  department  of  taxation and  finance,  the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly and department of economic development on or before  the  first day  of  July  next  succeeding  the  year to which the report pertains, regarding empire zone  activities,  including  information  which  would allow  for  substantive  review of the zone's strategies and progress of the zone in meeting its short-term objectives, and an  analysis  of  the extent  to  which  the  long-term  goals  set  forth  in the empire zone application have been met. The zone administrative  entities  and  other local  officials  and  agencies  shall  fully  cooperate  with  the zone administrative board in the annual performance review and in the board's performance of its other duties. Local officials,  state  agencies,  and certified  businesses  shall  provide  information requested by the zone administrative board which is necessary for  such  review.  Such  report shall  also include a current description of the specific strategies and priorities for economic revitalization of the zone, including,  but  not limited to: the number of jobs created; the number of jobs retained; the amount  of  private  capital  leveraged with public funds; the number of businesses expanded or retained and new businesses created, and the type of businesses expanded, retained or created, as well as consideration of the improvements  in  the  physical  infrastructure  of  the  zone.  The commissioner  shall  promulgate  rules  and  regulations  to  set  forth standards to be used to measure performance  against  objectives  on  an annual basis in order to facilitate the requirements of this paragraph;  (iii)   undertake   efforts  to  ensure  meaningful  participation  by minority-owned and  women-owned  business  enterprises  in  empire  zone activities;  (iv)  enter  into an agreement with the office of business permits and regulatory assistance to participate in  a  business  permit  assistance program  to  be  provided to applicants for business permits required by the state or a county, city, town or village for a business undertaking, project or activity in an empire zone;  (v)  enter  into  agreements  with  the  commissioners   of   economic development,  labor,  and  social  services, local departments of social services, and local education agencies as defined in  paragraph  (b)  of subdivision  one  of  section three thousand thirty-two of the education law,  local  community-based  organizations,  private  employers,  labor unions,  the  administrative entity and private industry council for the service delivery area established under the job training partnership act (P.L. 97-300, as amended) that includes the empire zone, and  any  other person  or  state  or  federal  agency  for the purpose of establishing, implementing and coordinating job  training  programs  for  workers  and businesses  to be located in an empire zone; provided, however, that (A) any agreement to establish a job training program designed to  meet  the specific  needs  of  a  private  employer shall require such employer to retain in its employ for not less than six months an  employee  who  has satisfactorily  completed  a  course  of  training  for a particular job opening unless such employee voluntarily leaves such  employment  or  is discharged  for  misconduct  or  other  good cause; (B) any job training program established pursuant to this  section  shall  make  use  of  the community  service  division  of  the  labor department as well as other sources for the purpose of recruitment;  (vi) in cooperation with local social services officials, establish  a job  training  opportunities  program  sponsored by private employers in  accordance with the provisions of section one  hundred  sixty-four-b  or three hundred fifty-l of the social services law;  (vii)  enter into agreements with local departments of social services or  community-based  organizations  to  facilitate  the   provision   of ancillary  or enhanced social services, including licensed and certified child day care, in any such zone;  (viii)  ensure  that  job  training   programs   meet   standards   of instructional  quality  established  in  regulations  promulgated by the commissioner of education;  (ix) organize or use an existing human  resource  development  network within  the  zone,  including  a  committee  of representatives of human resource agencies and organizations serving the  zone,  organized  labor and  business  representatives, to develop strategies and activities for improving the coordination and delivery of human services  to  residents of the zone and zone businesses;  (x)  prepare and implement a small business development and assistance plan;  (xi) in conjunction with zone  administrative  entities,  develop  and implement  a  system  for  continuous  monitoring and evaluation of zone performance at the local level consistent with the guidelines set  forth in  subdivisions  (k)  through (o) of section nine hundred fifty-nine of this article;  (xii) provide within the zone, or contract  with  a  new  or  existing community-based  local  development  corporation  or  entity to provide, strategic economic development planning  for  the  zone,  marketing  and promotion of the zone, assistance to companies in applying for available benefits, preparation of applications for financing assistance and other technical assistance services; coordination of the delivery of state and local  programs  within  the zones; and operation of such other economic development assistance  programs  in  furtherance  of  the  empire  zone development  plan  as  may be appropriate. Provided, however, within the amount appropriated therefor  and  allocated  by  the  director  of  the budget,  the  commissioner,  through  annual  administrative  contracts, shall, to the maximum extent feasible, make equally available  financial support,   through   contracts  or  other  means,  to  assist  with  the administrative expenses of  the  local  zone  administrative  bodies  or community-based  development  organizations.  No  funds  shall  be  made available for this purpose unless the amount to  be  provided  has  been matched by private or governmental sources, other than state sources, in amounts  at  least  equalling  that  to  be  provided by the state. Such matching funds shall be earmarked and used  exclusively  for  the  local administration  of  the  zone  program  or  for  activities  of the zone program. At least fifty percent of such matching funds shall be in cash, provided  that  the  commissioner  may  waive   this   requirement   for communities  with  populations  of  twenty-five  thousand  or  less, and provided, further,  that  any  amounts  appropriated  for  minority  and women-owned  business  development within the zones shall be distributed by the commissioner pursuant  to  a  competitive  proposal  solicitation process.  (b)  The  annual  report of the local empire zone administrative board required by subdivision (b) of this section shall, subject  to  the  tax secrecy  provisions  referred  to  in  subdivision  (d) of this section, include, but not be limited to, the following information  with  respect to  the  year immediately preceding the year which is the subject of the report:  (i) a complete list of all property within the zone, if  any,  granted an  exemption  under  section  four  hundred  eighty-five-e  of the real property tax law, together with  the  assessed  value  thereof  and  the  amount  of  such exemption, for each municipal corporation which granted such exemption.   Such list shall also  set  forth  for  each  municipal corporation  granting  such  exemption: (1) the tax rate for the year to which  the  report  pertains;  (2)  the amount of real property tax that would have been paid in the aggregate by the  owners  of  real  property granted  an  exemption  under  section four hundred eighty-five-e of the real property tax law if the property was fully taxable  at  that  rate; and (3) the amount of tax actually paid in the aggregate by such owners;  (ii)  the  total  incremental value, if any, as defined in subdivision (e) of section nine hundred sixty-seven of this chapter, of taxable real property in each city, town, village or county within the  empire  zone, together  with  the  total amount of tax increments which are segregated pursuant to subdivision (g) of such section;  (iii) the total dollar value of the refund or credit of taxes  imposed pursuant  to  the  authority  of  article  twenty-nine of the tax law on receipts from the  sale  of  certain  materials  used  in  constructing, expanding  or  rehabilitating  certain  business property located in the empire zone, as authorized by clause six of subdivision (a)  of  section eleven hundred nineteen of the tax law;  (iv)  the  total dollar value of the refund or credit of taxes imposed under article twenty-eight of the tax law on receipts from the  sale  of materials  used  in  constructing,  expanding  or rehabilitating certain business property located in the empire zone, as  authorized  by  clause six  of  subdivision  (a)  of section eleven hundred nineteen of the tax law;  (v) the number of taxpayers claiming each of the following tax credits or refunds, together with the total amount of  each  credit  claimed  by taxpayers  in the aggregate against their taxes in the year to which the report pertains, resulting from taxpayer activity in the empire zone  or investments made by taxpayers in the capital corporation established for that empire zone:  (A)  credits  against  the tax imposed under article nine-A of the tax law, based on investments in certain  eligible  property  in  an  empire zone, as authorized by subdivisions twelve-B and twelve-C of section two hundred ten of the tax law;  (B)  credits  against  the tax imposed under article twenty-two of the tax law, based on investments in certain eligible property in the empire zone, as authorized by subsection (j) of section six hundred six of  the tax law;  (C)  credits  against taxes imposed under articles nine-A, twenty-two, thirty-two and thirty-three of the tax  law,  based  on  wages  paid  to certain  employees  employed by a business located in an empire zone, as authorized  by  subdivision  nineteen  of  section  two   hundred   ten, subsection  (k)  of  section  six hundred six, subsection (e) of section fourteen hundred  fifty-six  and  subdivision  (g)  of  section  fifteen hundred eleven, respectively, of the tax law;  (D)  credits  against  the  tax  law  imposed  under  articles nine-A, twenty-two, thirty-two  and  thirty-three  of  the  tax  law,  based  on investments  in  the  stock  of  an  empire zone capital corporation, as authorized by subdivision twenty of section two hundred ten, subdivision (1) of section six hundred  six,  subsection  (d)  of  section  fourteen hundred fifty-six, and subdivision (h) of section fifteen hundred eleven of the tax law;  (vi)  the  total  amount  of reductions in utility costs of non-retail business customers in the empire  zone,  as  authorized  by  subdivision eight of section one hundred eighty-six-a of the tax law;  (vii)   a   statement   summarizing   all  amounts  received  as,  and expenditures made from, financial support  for  administrative  expenses pursuant to paragraph (vii) of subdivision (b) of this section; and  (viii)  any  other  information regarding empire zone activities which the department of economic development may require upon its own  request or  that  of the department of audit and control, department of taxation and finance, or the legislative commission on expenditure review.   In addition to the information  required  by  paragraphs  (i)  through (viii)  inclusive of this subdivision, such report shall also set forth, with respect to all previous years for  which  reports  were  issued,  a cumulative summary of the total amount of real property taxes that would have  been received by each municipal corporation within the zone if the real  property  granted  an  exemption  under   section   four   hundred eighty-five-e  of  the real property tax law had been fully taxed at the tax rate for the appropriate year, the total amount  of  tax  increments segregated  for  infrastructure improvements by each city, town, village or county within the zone, the total amount of each of  the  credits  or refunds  set  forth in paragraphs (iii) through (vi) of this subdivision for activities or investments within the zone,  and  the  total  amounts received  and  expenditures  made from any financial support pursuant to paragraph (vii) of subdivision (b) of this section.  (c) At the request of any local empire zone administrative board,  the department   of   taxation  and  finance,  the  department  of  economic development, the public service commission and any municipal corporation within the empire zone shall, to the extent that it possesses any of the information required by subdivision (c) of  this  section,  and  to  the extent  that  such  information  can  be disclosed without violating the secrecy provisions contained in sections two hundred  two,  two  hundred eleven,  six  hundred  ninety-seven, one thousand one hundred forty-six, one thousand two hundred fifty, one thousand  four  hundred  sixty-seven and  one  thousand  five  hundred  eighteen of the tax law, provide that information to the local empire zone administrative board for  inclusion in  its annual report. The amount of any real property taxes required to be set forth in the report pursuant to subdivision (c) of  this  section shall  be  computed  and furnished to the zone's administrative board by the municipality which levied the tax. The failure of  any  empire  zone administrative  board  to  prepare  and  submit  a report as required by subdivision  (b)  of  this  section  shall  make  the  board  or   other community-based  development  organization  ineligible  to  receive  any financial support for administrative expenses  authorized  by  paragraph (vii)  of  subdivision (b) of this section; provided, however, that such financial assistance shall not be withheld on account  of  the  report's failure  to include any information which is required by subdivision (c) of this section but is not available to the empire  zone  administrative board.  (d)  The  department  of  economic  development  shall  provide to the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly  and  the commissioner  of  the  department of taxation and finance a consolidated statewide report of the information required pursuant to paragraph  (ii) of  subdivision  (b) and subdivision (c) of this section. Such report by the department shall contain an analysis of the performance of each zone using the information obtained pursuant to paragraph (ii) of subdivision (b) and subdivision (c) of this section. Such report shall include,  but not be limited to, the number of jobs created, as derived from paragraph one  of  subdivision  (b)  of  section  fourteen of the tax law, for all businesses in each zone, and the number of new businesses in each zone.  (e) No designated empire zone shall  require  or  solicit  funds  from businesses,  whether  certified  or  not,  for  use  in the empire zones  program as created by this article. No business shall be required to pay any funds to participate in the empire zones program.  (f)  All  certified  businesses,  with  the  exception  of those whose benefit period as a QEZE business enterprise has expired,  are  required to  provide  a  certified annual report to the local zone administration board which report shall include but not be limited to the following:  (i) Business certification information to include: organization  name, organization   address   in   the  zone,  contact  information,  federal employment ID number, New  York  state  unemployment  insurance  number, state  of  formation or incorporation, verification that the business is authorized to conduct business in the state of New York;  (ii) Employment numbers calculated in the same  manner  in  which  the employment  number  is  required to be calculated by section fourteen of the tax law including: total existing full-time equivalent jobs  in  the zone  as  of  the date of certification within that zone, total existing jobs in the zone for the year for which the report  is  being  provided, total  remuneration  paid  to  employees in the zone each quarter of the reported year, total number of employees  in  all  zones,  total  annual remuneration  in  all  zones, total annual remuneration paid in New York state for the reported year, total employment number in New  York  state for  the  reported year as shown on each business' NYS-45 wage reporting form filed with the department of labor;  (iii) Capital investment to include: total investment made in the zone for the reported year;  (iv) Tax benefits used and refunded:  provide  an  estimation  of  the amount  of  the  tax benefits used and refunded for the reported year by the certified  business,  or  by  the  taxpayers  within  the  certified business including its shareholders, members, partners or the owner of a sole  proprietorship  including  the  wage  tax  credits, investment tax credits, employment incentive tax credits, real property tax credit, tax reduction credit; and  (v) The sales tax credits and refunds for the reported year.