Groups Ask Comptroller DiNapoli to Scrutinize Business Tax Credits
Reinvent Albany and seven other transparency and fiscal watchdog groups wrote NY State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli and asked him to increase his scrutiny of the state’s $1.7B in business tax credits. The groups expressed concern about the lack of transparency around how some credits are granted, for instance, the identify of the recipients of $420m in Film/TV credits is secret. They also cited transparency concerns raised in the authoritative 2013 report on business tax credits by the governor’s tax commission led by Peter J. Solomon and Carl McCall. Of particular concern to the groups are discretionary credits like Brownfields, Film/TV and Empire Zones, which involve an application and rating process that is completely opaque to the public.