Long Island led New York in the number of job gains created from Industrial Development Agency tax breaks in 2017. That’s according to a report released this week by State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli.
IDAs work to spur regional economic development, allowing businesses to make payments in lieu of taxes and providing tax exemptions to companies.
Long Island’s IDAs sponsored the largest number of projects, about 800. And that created about 50,000 jobs.
Residents have criticized IDAs on a local level for tax break abuse by companies and the agencies.
New York’s 109 IDAs provided $751 million in tax exemptions in 2017, up 5 percent from the previous year.
