NYS Comptroller Issues NRIDA Audity
The Office of the New York State Comptroller has completed a Report of Examination of the New Rochelle Industrial Development Agency (NRIDA). The audit examines the process through which the Agency approves and monitors economic development incentives and reviews the two year period of January 1, 2007- December 31, 2008.
The City of New Rochelle worked in full cooperation with the NYS OSC to provide information, analysis and feedback during the audit. The following is a summary of the Report’s findings and the NRIDA’s responses.
The Report clearly confirms that the NRIDA’s incentives have been fully compliant with State law and explicitly rejects a third-party claim of wrongly extended benefits, noting the NRIDA “properly approved” the benefits at issue. The Report also endorses the NRIDA’s policy that an appropriate analysis of any project should not be confined only to the direct costs and benefits generated on a development site itself, but should also encompass the secondary and spillover effects closely related to project construction and operation.
However, the Report recommends enhanced methods for analysis and verification of development incentives. As a result, the NRIDA is considering the following procedural changes:
• Adjust its written standards for evaluating applications so that they are tailored more closely to the economic goals and characteristics of New Rochelle and less reliant on broader State objectives;
• Establish a more thorough qualitative and quantitative cost-benefit framework that can be applied to all future projects applying for IDA assistance, while linking any additional costs for such analysis to applicant fees;
• Continue to consider the merit and applicability of recapture provisions and other performance standards in conjunction with appropriate applications; and
• Expand IDA staff responsibilities to include regular, independent oversight of project benefits.
These action steps will be finalized and submitted to the Comptroller in the form of a Corrective Action Plan within the next 90 days. The NRIDA has already acted to implement suggested changes in remittance timetables.
“We are committed to working with the NYS OSC and will carefully review the audit’s findings,” said City Manager Charles Strome, adding that a number of the challenges noted in the Report are prevalent among the IDAs of New York State, and not unique to New Rochelle.
“While suggesting changes in our administrative procedures, the Audit Report does not refute the City’s perspective that the major projects undertaken during the past fifteen years have been beneficial to our community,” said IDA Chairperson Marianne Sussman. “The incentives granted by the NRIDA- and for major projects, by the City Council- have been and will continue to be reviewed and offered on a case-by-case basis, based on their projected benefits to the City in revitalization, stimulation of other business or community activity, public space enhancement, or job creation or retention.”
“To achieve local economic goals and compete successfully for private investment, cities like New Rochelle must employ a variety of land use, financial and marketing tools,” said Mayor Noam Bramson. “The City’s comprehensive development strategy has already helped bring new vitality to our central business district, while also significantly increasing commercial tax revenue. Nonetheless, New Rochelle continues to face serious economic challenges, so I am grateful for the work of the NRIDA and the State Comptroller in outlining improved procedures for making progress.”
Copies of the NYS OSC Report are available for view at the Office of the City Clerk and on line at www.newrochelleny.com/ida.
© Shoreline Publishing 2010
629 Fifth Avenue, Suite 213, Pelham, NY 10803
Phone: 914-738-7869 Fax 914-738-7876
http://www.shorelinepub.com
prod@shorelinepub.com
