IDA Reform

Enough Wasting Taxpayer Money

Industrial Development Agencies were created in New York State as a way to spur development and job creation through tax breaks for businesses.  Sadly, this project has cost taxpayers a lot while producing few results.  Even the State Comptroller noted that job growth is not matching up to the amount of funds given; just last year, jobs were actually LOST rather than gained!

We have seen that the lack of transparency and oversight for the IDAs throughout NYS has cheated taxpayers out of millions, all in the name of job creation that has yet to happen.  There are a lot of problems on the local and state level regarding IDAs, their regulation, and their funding.  In other words, they are a broken institution that needs to be changed into something that actually fulfills its mission of creating jobs rather than just handing out taxbreaks regardless.

We are working hand-in-hand with Jobs with Justice to fight and make sure we as taxpayers get our money’s worth when it comes to IDAs.  We have gone to lobby meetings with Senators and Assemblymen, urging them to reform the broken IDA system so our taxes aren't wasted.  While economic development is important, we need to hold IDAs and legislators accountable so that our money isn’t wasted on projects that are not creating jobs in our neighborhoods.