Lots of Losers in Governor Cuomo’s “Tax-Free New York”

Last week we wrote about Governor Cuomo’s ill-conceived Tax-Free NY initiative.  We reserve judgment as to whether it’s politically motivated ( a New York Post column called him “Gov $uck-up”, for instance, and this column also questions the motivation) but we can be pretty sure it will cost more than it will benefit the people of New York, because this is what business tax credits do.

Still, since that post, the Governor has continued his promotional tour of New York campuses, so we spent some time digging into how actual businesses would fare under his plan. As it turns out, the Governor’s focus on rewarding new investment could end up arbitrarily discriminating against existing small businesses (and their employees) who are already doing the same things Cuomo’s plan will reward others to start doing.

Capraro Technologies, Inc. (CTI), for example, has been based in Utica (home to SUNY Institute of Technology) for almost two decades. The company shares the SUNY-IT mission of advancing the field of information technology through research and innovation, and appears to be a model of the kind of business the Governor hopes to attract. But CTI would be ineligible for any benefits under Tax-Free NY, and the company could find itself at a disadvantage relative to other firms who do qualify for the tax-free treatment.

To gain eligibility, CTI would need to “expand its New York operations while maintaining its existing jobs.” But such an expansion would need to take place within one mile from the SUNY-IT campus. Unless CTI were able to obtain a special waiver, this would mean having to open a new office about two miles down the road from its current location; hardly an example of economic efficiency.

CTI is only one of many existing companies throughout the state that could be placed at a disadvantage relative to new competitors. BlueRock Energy, a Syracuse-based company that helps customers lower their energy costs and environmental footprint and would be ineligible for Tax-Free NY benefits if it expanded at its current lots, is another case-in-point. Located about 2.5 miles away from the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, BlueRock Energy shares a common mission with SUNY-ESF.

And the list goes on. From mobile app creator miSoft Studios near SUNY Binghamton to software developer Wetstone Technologies near SUNY Cortland, existing local businesses across the state will all reap zero rewards for having already done exactly what the Governor will allegedly incentivize other businesses to do in the future.

And of course, you are not only out of luck if you started your business at the wrong time, but place matters, too. State tax expert David Brunori at Tax Analysts summed up one of Tax-Free NY’s absurdities by highlighting, “if you are in the community you don’t pay taxes. If you are outside, even by six inches, you do.”

Existing small businesses are not the only losers because the plan extends to employees, too. Professor John Yinger, an expert in fiscal policy from Syracuse University, says the Governor’s plan “means some businesses are getting lower taxes than others and in this case it means some people are getting much lower taxes than others, those are new sources of inequities.”

There are so many problems with Governor Cuomo’s idea for tax-free zones, it’s hard to know where to begin. But the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy’s (ITEP) policy briefs library is a good place to look, and we invite the Governor to consider this guidance (all links are PDF’s).

Taxes and Economic Development 101: “Lawmakers are under intense pressure to create a healthy climate for investment. But the simplistic view that tax cuts are the best medicine can result in unintentionally making this climate worse. Unaffordable tax cuts shift the cost of funding public services onto every business that isn’t lucky enough to receive these tax breaks—and makes it harder to fund the public investments on which all businesses rely.”

Accountable Economic Development Strategies: “Some lawmakers are wising up to the idea that subsidies don’t work. But for policymakers who insist on offering incentives, there are some important, simple, and concrete steps that can be taken to ensure that subsidies aren’t allowed to go unchecked.”

Tax Principles: The principle of neutrality (sometimes called “efficiency”) tells us that a tax system should stay out of the way of economic decisions. Tax policies that systematically favor one kind of economic activity or another can lead to the misallocation of resources, or worse, to schemes whose sole aim is to exploit such preferential tax treatment.”