NY Econ Dev L § 436 (2021)
2021 New York Laws COM - Economic Development Law Article 21 - Start-Up Ny Program 436 - Businesses Locating in Tax-Free Ny Areas.

§  436.  Businesses  locating  in  tax-free  NY  areas.  1.  A campus, university or college that has sponsored a tax-free NY  area  (including any  strategic  state  asset  affiliated  with the campus, university or college) shall solicit and accept applications from businesses to locate in such  area  that  are  consistent  with  the  plan  of  such  campus, university  or  college  or strategic state asset that has been approved pursuant to section  four  hundred  thirty-five  of  this  article.  Any business  that  wants  to  locate  in  a tax-free NY area must submit an application to the campus, university or college which is sponsoring the tax-free NY area by December  thirty-first,  two  thousand  twenty-five. Prior  to such date, the commissioner shall prepare an evaluation on the effectiveness of the START-UP NY program and deliver it to the  governor and  the  legislature to determine continued eligibility for application submissions.   2. (a) The sponsoring campus, university or college shall provide  the application  and all supporting documentation of any business it decides to accept into its tax-free NY area to the commissioner for review. Such application shall be in a form prescribed by the commissioner and  shall contain  all  information  the  commissioner  determines is necessary to properly evaluate the business's application, including, but not limited to, the  name,  address,  and  employer  identification  number  of  the business;  a description of the land or space the business will use, the terms of the lease agreement,  if  applicable,  between  the  sponsoring campus,  university  or college and the business, and whether or not the land or space being used by the business is being transferred or  sublet to the business from some other business. The application must include a certification  by  the  business  that it meets the eligibility criteria specified in section four hundred thirty-three of this article and  will align  with  or  further  the academic mission of the sponsoring campus, college or university, and that  the  business's  participation  in  the START-UP  NY program will have positive community and economic benefits. The application must also describe whether or not the business  competes with  other businesses in the same community but outside the tax-free NY area. In addition, the application must include a description of how the business plans to recruit employees from the local workforce.  (b) The commissioner shall review such application  and  documentation within  sixty  days and may reject such application upon a determination that the business does not meet the eligibility criteria in section four hundred thirty-three  of  this  article,  has  submitted  an  incomplete application,  has  failed  to  comply  with  subdivision  three  of this section, or has failed to demonstrate that the business's  participation in  the  START-UP  NY  program will have positive community and economic benefits, which shall be evaluated based on factors  including  but  not limited to whether or not the business competes with other businesses in the  same  community  but  outside the tax-free NY area as prohibited by section four hundred forty of this article. If the commissioner  rejects such  application,  it  shall  provide  notice  of such rejection to the sponsoring  campus,  university  or  college  and   business.   If   the commissioner  does  not  reject such application within sixty days, such business is accepted to  locate  in  such  tax-free  NY  area,  and  the application  of  such  business shall constitute a contract between such business  and  the  sponsoring  campus,  university  or   college.   The sponsoring   campus,   university   or  college  must  provide  accepted businesses with documentation of  their  acceptances  in  such  form  as prescribed  by  the  commissioner  of taxation and finance which will be used to demonstrate such business's eligibility  for  the  tax  benefits specified in section thirty-nine of the tax law.  (c) If a state university campus proposes to enter into a lease with a business  for  eligible  land  in a tax-free NY area with a term greater than forty years, including any options to renew, or for  eligible  land in  a  tax-free  NY  area  of one million or more square feet, the state university  campus,  at  the same time as the application is provided to the commissioner, also must submit the lease for review to the  START-UP NY  approval  board. If the board does not disapprove of the lease terms within  thirty  days,  the  lease  is  deemed  approved.  If  the  board disapproves  the  lease  terms,  the state university campus must submit modified lease terms to the commissioner for review. The  commissioner's sixty  day  review  period is suspended while the board is reviewing the lease and during the time it takes for the state  university  campus  to modify the lease terms.  (d)   Except  as  otherwise  provided  in  this  article,  proprietary information or supporting documentation submitted by  a  business  to  a sponsoring  campus, university or college shall only be utilized for the purpose of evaluating such business's application or compliance with the provisions of this article and shall not  be  otherwise  disclosed.  Any person who willfully discloses such information to a third party for any other purpose whatsoever shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.   3.   The   business   submitting  the  application,  as  part  of  the application, must:  (a) agree to allow the department of taxation and finance to share its tax  information  with  the  department  and  the   sponsoring   campus, university or college;  (b)  agree  to  allow  the  department  of  labor to share its tax and employer information with the  department  and  the  sponsoring  campus, university or college;  (c)  allow  the  department  and its agents and the sponsoring campus, university or college access to  any  and  all  books  and  records  the department  or  sponsoring  campus, university or college may require to monitor compliance;  (d) include performance benchmarks, including the number  of  net  new jobs  that  must  be  created, the schedule for creating those jobs, and details on job  titles  and  expected  salaries.  The  application  must specify  the  consequences  for  failure  to  meet  such  benchmarks, as determined by the business and  the  sponsoring  campus,  university  or college: (i) suspension of such business's participation in the START-UP NY  program  for one or more tax years as specified in such application; (ii) termination of such business's participation  in  the  START-UP  NY program;  and/or  (iii)  proportional  recovery  of tax benefits awarded under the START-UP NY program as specified in section thirty-nine of the tax law;  (e) provide the following information to the department and sponsoring campus, university or college upon request:  (i) the prior three years of federal and state income or franchise tax returns, unemployment insurance quarterly  returns,  real  property  tax bills and audited financial statements;  (ii)  the  employer  identification or social security numbers for all related persons to the business, including those of  any  members  of  a limited liability company or partners in a partnership;  (f)  provide  a clear and detailed presentation of all related persons to the business to assure the department that jobs are not being shifted within the state; and  (g) certify, under penalty of  perjury,  that  it  is  in  substantial compliance  with all environmental, worker protection, and local, state, and federal  tax  laws,  and  that  it  satisfies  all  the  eligibility requirements to participate in the START-UP NY program.    4.  (a)  At  the  conclusion  of  the  lease  term  of  a lease by the sponsoring campus, university or college to a business of land or  space in  a  tax-free  NY  area  owned by the sponsoring campus, university or college, the leased land or space and  any  improvements  thereon  shall revert to the sponsoring campus, university or college, unless the lease is renewed.  (b)  If,  at any time, the sponsoring campus, university or college or the commissioner determines that a business no longer satisfies  any  of the  eligibility criteria specified in section four hundred thirty-three of this article, the sponsoring  campus,  university  or  college  shall recommend  to  the  commissioner  that the commissioner terminate or the commissioner on his or her own initiative  shall  immediately  terminate such  business's participation in the START-UP NY program. Such business shall be notified of such termination  by  a  method  which  allows  for verification  of  receipt  of  such  termination  notice. A copy of such termination notice shall be sent to the  commissioner  of  taxation  and finance.  Upon such termination, such business shall not be eligible for the tax benefits specified in section thirty-nine of  the  tax  law  for that  or any future taxable year, calendar quarter or sales tax quarter, although employees of such  business  may  continue  to  claim  the  tax benefit  for  their  wages  during  the  remainder of that taxable year. Further,  such  lease  or  contract  between  the   sponsoring   campus, university or college and such business shall be rescinded, effective on the  thirtieth day after the commissioner mailed such termination notice to such business and the land or  space  and  any  improvements  thereon shall revert to the sponsoring campus, university or college.   5.  The  commissioner  shall  promulgate regulations to effectuate the purposes of this section, including, but not  limited  to,  establishing the  process  for the evaluation and possible rejection of applications, the eligibility criteria  that  will  be  applied  in  evaluating  those applications,  and  the  process  for  terminations from the START-UP NY program and administrative appeals of such terminations.