By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says local industrial development agencies need to be more accountable.
There are 116 IDAs in New York. In a report released Wednesday, Comptroller DiNapoli said these agencies need to provide more documentation on the jobs they actually produce through tax breaks to businesses.
Among DiNapoli's recommendations for dealing with the problem is to revoke an IDA's authority to award tax abatements and other incentives to expanding companies if its job creation reports are incomplete.
The audit also notes that just six IDAs, including two in the Buffalo area, are responsible for 40 percent of all projects statewide.
Amherst IDA Director James Allen says that he and his colleagues at other agencies will be looking to the comptroller's office for specifics on how the data should be reported.
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