New York Lawmakers Push for New Limits on School Tax Breaks

As New York students and teachers head back to classrooms, some Albany lawmakers are planning to push a bill limiting tax breaks that threaten school funding.

The legislation would prohibit industrial development agencies, a group of more than 100 public benefit corporations that promote economic development projects, from waiving taxes that would otherwise go toward funding school districts. The exemptions in recent years have reached nearly $2 billion.

Fiscal watchdogs have long questioned the financial tradeoffs of these locally controlled entities, which are empowered by the state to offer businesses incentives to locate in their respective regions. An IDA can ...