Investigative Post: Report: Tax breaks costing schools big money
The Investigative Post wrote about a new Good Jobs First report that revealed New York’s public schools lost at least $1.8 billion to corporate tax abatements in fiscal year 2021. In 37 school districts, the losses totaled $1,000 per student per year; in seven districts, the per-pupil losses exceeded $5,000.
The Post writes:
The report understates the amount of money schools are losing out on because only about half of districts self-reported in annual financial statements how much revenue they lost because of tax abatements.
Some recent big-ticket tax subsidies also aren’t accounted for. They include $124 million in tax breaks for an Amazon warehouse in Niagara County and even larger tax abatements for a proposed Micron semiconductor plant near Syracuse …
The report concludes that “problems with New York State IDAs are numerous and persistent.” Good Jobs First recommends abolishing IDAs altogether or significantly reforming them.
Read the full story at the Investigative Post.