2023 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.