New York Laws
Article 18-B - New York State Empire Zones
963 - Local Administration of Empire Zones.

(i) develop short-term goals for zone activities on an annual basis;
(ii) prepare, or cause to be prepared, an annual report and submit
copies to the department of audit and control, department of taxation
and finance, the temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the
assembly and department of economic development on or before the first
day of July next succeeding the year to which the report pertains,
regarding empire zone activities, including information which would
allow for substantive review of the zone's strategies and progress of
the zone in meeting its short-term objectives, and an analysis of the
extent to which the long-term goals set forth in the empire zone
application have been met. The zone administrative entities and other
local officials and agencies shall fully cooperate with the zone
administrative board in the annual performance review and in the board's
performance of its other duties. Local officials, state agencies, and
certified businesses shall provide information requested by the zone
administrative board which is necessary for such review. Such report
shall also include a current description of the specific strategies and
priorities for economic revitalization of the zone, including, but not
limited to: the number of jobs created; the number of jobs retained; the
amount of private capital leveraged with public funds; the number of
businesses expanded or retained and new businesses created, and the type
of businesses expanded, retained or created, as well as consideration of
the improvements in the physical infrastructure of the zone. The
commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations to set forth
standards to be used to measure performance against objectives on an
annual basis in order to facilitate the requirements of this paragraph;
(iii) undertake efforts to ensure meaningful participation by
minority-owned and women-owned business enterprises in empire zone
activities;
(iv) enter into an agreement with the office of business permits and
regulatory assistance to participate in a business permit assistance
program to be provided to applicants for business permits required by
the state or a county, city, town or village for a business undertaking,
project or activity in an empire zone;
(v) enter into agreements with the commissioners of economic
development, labor, and social services, local departments of social
services, and local education agencies as defined in paragraph (b) of
subdivision one of section three thousand thirty-two of the education
law, local community-based organizations, private employers, labor
unions, the administrative entity and private industry council for the
service delivery area established under the job training partnership act
(P.L. 97-300, as amended) that includes the empire zone, and any other
person or state or federal agency for the purpose of establishing,
implementing and coordinating job training programs for workers and
businesses to be located in an empire zone; provided, however, that (A)
any agreement to establish a job training program designed to meet the
specific needs of a private employer shall require such employer to
retain in its employ for not less than six months an employee who has
satisfactorily completed a course of training for a particular job
opening unless such employee voluntarily leaves such employment or is
discharged for misconduct or other good cause; (B) any job training
program established pursuant to this section shall make use of the
community service division of the labor department as well as other
sources for the purpose of recruitment;
(vi) in cooperation with local social services officials, establish a
job training opportunities program sponsored by private employers in

accordance with the provisions of section one hundred sixty-four-b or
three hundred fifty-l of the social services law;
(vii) enter into agreements with local departments of social services
or community-based organizations to facilitate the provision of
ancillary or enhanced social services, including licensed and certified
child day care, in any such zone;
(viii) ensure that job training programs meet standards of
instructional quality established in regulations promulgated by the
commissioner of education;
(ix) organize or use an existing human resource development network
within the zone, including a committee of representatives of human
resource agencies and organizations serving the zone, organized labor
and business representatives, to develop strategies and activities for
improving the coordination and delivery of human services to residents
of the zone and zone businesses;
(x) prepare and implement a small business development and assistance
plan;
(xi) in conjunction with zone administrative entities, develop and
implement a system for continuous monitoring and evaluation of zone
performance at the local level consistent with the guidelines set forth
in subdivisions (k) through (o) of section nine hundred fifty-nine of
this article;
(xii) provide within the zone, or contract with a new or existing
community-based local development corporation or entity to provide,
strategic economic development planning for the zone, marketing and
promotion of the zone, assistance to companies in applying for available
benefits, preparation of applications for financing assistance and other
technical assistance services; coordination of the delivery of state and
local programs within the zones; and operation of such other economic
development assistance programs in furtherance of the empire zone
development plan as may be appropriate. Provided, however, within the
amount appropriated therefor and allocated by the director of the
budget, the commissioner, through annual administrative contracts,
shall, to the maximum extent feasible, make equally available financial
support, through contracts or other means, to assist with the
administrative expenses of the local zone administrative bodies or
community-based development organizations. No funds shall be made
available for this purpose unless the amount to be provided has been
matched by private or governmental sources, other than state sources, in
amounts at least equalling that to be provided by the state. Such
matching funds shall be earmarked and used exclusively for the local
administration of the zone program or for activities of the zone
program. At least fifty percent of such matching funds shall be in cash,
provided that the commissioner may waive this requirement for
communities with populations of twenty-five thousand or less, and
provided, further, that any amounts appropriated for minority and
women-owned business development within the zones shall be distributed
by the commissioner pursuant to a competitive proposal solicitation
process.
(b) The annual report of the local empire zone administrative board
required by subdivision (b) of this section shall, subject to the tax
secrecy provisions referred to in subdivision (d) of this section,
include, but not be limited to, the following information with respect
to the year immediately preceding the year which is the subject of the
report:
(i) a complete list of all property within the zone, if any, granted
an exemption under section four hundred eighty-five-e of the real
property tax law, together with the assessed value thereof and the

amount of such exemption, for each municipal corporation which granted
such exemption. Such list shall also set forth for each municipal
corporation granting such exemption: (1) the tax rate for the year to
which the report pertains; (2) the amount of real property tax that
would have been paid in the aggregate by the owners of real property
granted an exemption under section four hundred eighty-five-e of the
real property tax law if the property was fully taxable at that rate;
and (3) the amount of tax actually paid in the aggregate by such owners;
(ii) the total incremental value, if any, as defined in subdivision
(e) of section nine hundred sixty-seven of this chapter, of taxable real
property in each city, town, village or county within the empire zone,
together with the total amount of tax increments which are segregated
pursuant to subdivision (g) of such section;
(iii) the total dollar value of the refund or credit of taxes imposed
pursuant to the authority of article twenty-nine of the tax law on
receipts from the sale of certain materials used in constructing,
expanding or rehabilitating certain business property located in the
empire zone, as authorized by clause six of subdivision (a) of section
eleven hundred nineteen of the tax law;
(iv) the total dollar value of the refund or credit of taxes imposed
under article twenty-eight of the tax law on receipts from the sale of
materials used in constructing, expanding or rehabilitating certain
business property located in the empire zone, as authorized by clause
six of subdivision (a) of section eleven hundred nineteen of the tax
law;
(v) the number of taxpayers claiming each of the following tax credits
or refunds, together with the total amount of each credit claimed by
taxpayers in the aggregate against their taxes in the year to which the
report pertains, resulting from taxpayer activity in the empire zone or
investments made by taxpayers in the capital corporation established for
that empire zone:
(A) credits against the tax imposed under article nine-A of the tax
law, based on investments in certain eligible property in an empire
zone, as authorized by subdivisions twelve-B and twelve-C of section two
hundred ten of the tax law;
(B) credits against the tax imposed under article twenty-two of the
tax law, based on investments in certain eligible property in the empire
zone, as authorized by subsection (j) of section six hundred six of the
tax law;
(C) credits against taxes imposed under articles nine-A, twenty-two,
thirty-two and thirty-three of the tax law, based on wages paid to
certain employees employed by a business located in an empire zone, as
authorized by subdivision nineteen of section two hundred ten,
subsection (k) of section six hundred six, subsection (e) of section
fourteen hundred fifty-six and subdivision (g) of section fifteen
hundred eleven, respectively, of the tax law;
(D) credits against the tax law imposed under articles nine-A,
twenty-two, thirty-two and thirty-three of the tax law, based on
investments in the stock of an empire zone capital corporation, as
authorized by subdivision twenty of section two hundred ten, subdivision
(1) of section six hundred six, subsection (d) of section fourteen
hundred fifty-six, and subdivision (h) of section fifteen hundred eleven
of the tax law;
(vi) the total amount of reductions in utility costs of non-retail
business customers in the empire zone, as authorized by subdivision
eight of section one hundred eighty-six-a of the tax law;
(vii) a statement summarizing all amounts received as, and
expenditures made from, financial support for administrative expenses
pursuant to paragraph (vii) of subdivision (b) of this section; and
(viii) any other information regarding empire zone activities which
the department of economic development may require upon its own request
or that of the department of audit and control, department of taxation
and finance, or the legislative commission on expenditure review.
In addition to the information required by paragraphs (i) through
(viii) inclusive of this subdivision, such report shall also set forth,
with respect to all previous years for which reports were issued, a
cumulative summary of the total amount of real property taxes that would
have been received by each municipal corporation within the zone if the
real property granted an exemption under section four hundred
eighty-five-e of the real property tax law had been fully taxed at the
tax rate for the appropriate year, the total amount of tax increments
segregated for infrastructure improvements by each city, town, village
or county within the zone, the total amount of each of the credits or
refunds set forth in paragraphs (iii) through (vi) of this subdivision
for activities or investments within the zone, and the total amounts
received and expenditures made from any financial support pursuant to
paragraph (vii) of subdivision (b) of this section.
(c) At the request of any local empire zone administrative board, the
department of taxation and finance, the department of economic
development, the public service commission and any municipal corporation
within the empire zone shall, to the extent that it possesses any of the
information required by subdivision (c) of this section, and to the
extent that such information can be disclosed without violating the
secrecy provisions contained in sections two hundred two, two hundred
eleven, six hundred ninety-seven, one thousand one hundred forty-six,
one thousand two hundred fifty, one thousand four hundred sixty-seven
and one thousand five hundred eighteen of the tax law, provide that
information to the local empire zone administrative board for inclusion
in its annual report. The amount of any real property taxes required to
be set forth in the report pursuant to subdivision (c) of this section
shall be computed and furnished to the zone's administrative board by
the municipality which levied the tax. The failure of any empire zone
administrative board to prepare and submit a report as required by
subdivision (b) of this section shall make the board or other
community-based development organization ineligible to receive any
financial support for administrative expenses authorized by paragraph
(vii) of subdivision (b) of this section; provided, however, that such
financial assistance shall not be withheld on account of the report's
failure to include any information which is required by subdivision (c)
of this section but is not available to the empire zone administrative
board.
(d) The department of economic development shall provide to the
temporary president of the senate, the speaker of the assembly and the
commissioner of the department of taxation and finance a consolidated
statewide report of the information required pursuant to paragraph (ii)
of subdivision (b) and subdivision (c) of this section. Such report by
the department shall contain an analysis of the performance of each zone
using the information obtained pursuant to paragraph (ii) of subdivision
(b) and subdivision (c) of this section. Such report shall include, but
not be limited to, the number of jobs created, as derived from paragraph
one of subdivision (b) of section fourteen of the tax law, for all
businesses in each zone, and the number of new businesses in each zone.
(e) No designated empire zone shall require or solicit funds from
businesses, whether certified or not, for use in the empire zones

program as created by this article. No business shall be required to pay
any funds to participate in the empire zones program.
(f) All certified businesses, with the exception of those whose
benefit period as a QEZE business enterprise has expired, are required
to provide a certified annual report to the local zone administration
board which report shall include but not be limited to the following:
(i) Business certification information to include: organization name,
organization address in the zone, contact information, federal
employment ID number, New York state unemployment insurance number,
state of formation or incorporation, verification that the business is
authorized to conduct business in the state of New York;
(ii) Employment numbers calculated in the same manner in which the
employment number is required to be calculated by section fourteen of
the tax law including: total existing full-time equivalent jobs in the
zone as of the date of certification within that zone, total existing
jobs in the zone for the year for which the report is being provided,
total remuneration paid to employees in the zone each quarter of the
reported year, total number of employees in all zones, total annual
remuneration in all zones, total annual remuneration paid in New York
state for the reported year, total employment number in New York state
for the reported year as shown on each business' NYS-45 wage reporting
form filed with the department of labor;
(iii) Capital investment to include: total investment made in the zone
for the reported year;
(iv) Tax benefits used and refunded: provide an estimation of the
amount of the tax benefits used and refunded for the reported year by
the certified business, or by the taxpayers within the certified
business including its shareholders, members, partners or the owner of a
sole proprietorship including the wage tax credits, investment tax
credits, employment incentive tax credits, real property tax credit, tax
reduction credit; and
(v) The sales tax credits and refunds for the reported year.