Return on Investment

The Albany Business Review has a story this morning about a new report from the office of  New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli about the performance in fiscal year 2010 of IDAs and the effectiveness of the tax incentives they dole out to entice businesses and create new jobs: "Report: Capital Region IDAs more active during recession." According to the report, in the Capital Region, which includes Columbia County, IDA-supported projects had the highest job gains per capita of any region in the state, but, to achieve that, Capital Region IDAs handed out the second highest amount of tax breaks per job--$2,723--and Capital Region homeowners paid an average of $141 more in taxes because of the IDA tax breaks--the highest average in the state. DiNapoli is quoted as saying that the report shows "limited correlation between higher tax exemptions and job creation."