Re: [CPEO-BIF] New York's Brownfields tax credits

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

I've been planning to post this, and Peter's question makes it even more 
appropriate:

In January New Partners for Community Revitalization (NPCR) published 
its analysis of New York State's brownfields programs, "Smart Growth 
Outlook 2011: Challenges and Opportunities in Brownfields, Area-wide 
Planning & Implementation." It's the best description of New York's 
brownfields strategies that I've seen.

The report compares the effectiveness of the state's Brownfields 
Opportunities Areas (BOA) program with its Brownfields Tax Credits. On 
the one hand, "The municipal governments and community based 
organizations leading these BOA initiatives are giving hope to residents 
of some of New York's most distressed neighborhoods." On the other hand, 
 "Despite a commitment of an estimated half billion dollars in 
refundable state brownfield tax credits, there are fewer cleanups taking 
place today than before 2003, when the State offered no financial 
incentives."

But the strength of the report lies in its detailed recommendations for 
targeting the state's brownfields programs at under-served 
neighborhoods. It discusses the area-wide approach, program flexibility, 
inter-agency cooperation, and the role of environmental insurance.

The cornerstone of the NPCR approach is Authentic Community Engagement, 
which it defines: "Authentic community engagement in the area-wide 
approach has evolved to mean the ongoing, meaningful participation by 
neighborhood residents in the decision-making that impacts their 
neighborhood." It explains, "A community is authentically
engaged when it is involved at the  outset in setting the scope and 
process of decision-making."

To download the 54-page report, go to
http://www.npcr.net/reports/NPCRJournal_OnLinevF2.pdf

Lenny

Peter Strauss wrote:
> Larry:
>
> If you are saying that the tax credits not used for cleanup were  
> targeted at disadvantaged communities, then your statement about  
> recognizing other economic benefits would have greater merit.   However, 
> brownfield projects, as far as I can tell, do not have to be  in areas 
> that are disadvantaged - such as the ones mentioned in the  article in 
> White Plains and outside of Syracuse.
>
> It would be interesting to see what the proportion of NY brownfield  
> grants are given disadvantaged areas.  Is that information available?
>
> Peter Strauss
> On Feb 7, 2011, at 5:37 PM, Larry Schnapf wrote:
>
> > There is no doubt that the NY BCP is very generous and probably  needs 
> > some
> > tweaking. However, the article seems very one-sided to me.
> >
> > First, it does not take into account the economic benefits flowing  from
> > these projects, just compared the cleanup costs to the tax credits.  The
> > developers of these projects invested real dollars into New York and  
> > created
> > jobs. These benefits seem to have been completely ignored.
> >
> > Second, these projects were accepted into the program before the tax  
> > caps
> > were implemented. It would be interesting to see how the tax caps are
> > working.
> >
> > Larry
> >
> > Lawrence Schnapf
> > Schnapf Law Office
> > 55 East 87th Street #8B
> > New York, New York 10128
> > 212-756-2205 (p)
> > 212-646-8483 (c)
> > Larry@SchnapfLaw.com
> > www.SchnapfLaw.com
> >
> > Named to Chambers USA 2009-10 Client Guide of America's Leading  
> > Lawyers for
> > Business.
> >
> > AV Preeminent Rating from Martindale-Hubbell
> >
> > Listed in 2010 New York Super Lawyers-Metro Edition
> >
> > Blog: Visit Schnapf Judgment on the commonground community at
> > http://commonground.edrnet.com/resources/9d51c3f88e/summary
> >
> >
> > Linked-In Blog: Environmental Issues in Business Transactions
> > http://www.linkedin.com/groups?mostPopular=&gid=3607181
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org
> > [mailto:brownfields-bounces@lists.cpeo.org] On Behalf Of Lenny Siegel
> > Sent: Monday, February 07, 2011 8:04 PM
> > To: Brownfields Internet Forum
> > Subject: [CPEO-BIF] New York's Brownfields tax credits
> >
> > State 'fix' losing credit
> > Builders make lucrative use of state tax credits meant for site  cleanup
> >
> > By BRIAN NEARING
> > Albany Times-Union (NY)
> > February 7, 2011
> >
> > ALBANY -- It could take years to fix the state program that, while
> > intended to clean polluted sites, has resulted in hundreds of millions
> > of dollars flowing into a relative handful of costly mega-projects  with
> > mini-cleanups.
> >
> > In three years, the Brownfield Cleanup Program cost taxpayers more  than
> > $464 million in tax credits, which are cash payments directly from the
> > state treasury, but created only about $340 million in cleanups,
> > according to a Times Union analysis of annual reports by the state
> > Department of Taxation and Finance.
> >
> > Instead, more than 90 percent of the credits rewarded developers for  new
> > buildings, according to the analysis, which covers 49 projects that
> > received tax credits from 2007 through 2009. Dozens of other projects
> > form a backlog that could cost the state eye-popping sums for years  
> > to come.
> >
> > ...
> >
> > For the entire article, see
> > http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/State-fix-losing-credit-1000275.php 
> >
> >
> > --
> >
> >
> > Lenny Siegel
> > Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
> > a project of the Pacific Studies Center
> > 278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
> > Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
> > Fax: 650/961-8918
> > <lsiegel@cpeo.org>
> > http://www.cpeo.org
> >
> >
> >
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> >
> > _______________________________________________
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--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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