Governor Hochul signed a four-year extension of NYC Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP) based on the myth that tax breaks are free, and motivated by campaign contributions from real estate, not good tax policy.
ICAP is completely out of control and will cost NYC taxpayers at least $2 billion and divert more than $400 million from NYC public schools over the course of four years.* Disgracefully, it’s well known that ICAP does not work. In 2016, the NYC Council showed that only 3.6% of projects getting ICAP tax breaks needed them to be financially feasible. ICAP is a mega-turkey, and the Governor and Legislature should do their duty to the public and stop giving this money away.
ICAP’s Cost to NYC Is Exploding
$506.3 million in FY 2024
$81.4 million in FY 2016
(Per Citizens Budget Commission)
*ICAP cost $506.3 million in FY 2024. Therefore, the four-year cost of the extension is at least that amount times four years = approximately $2 billion.
We calculate that 20% of the percentage of revenue from NYC only sources goes to K-12 education. Simple math is 20% of $2 billion = $400 million. This is a very low estimate because ICAP has been growing explosively, and this assumes it will stay at $500 million for the next four years.