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Senate committee backs compromise to raise downtown tax-credit pot to $3.5 million and reports bill
Summary
A Senate committee heard from Kaitlyn Corpins about the downtown and village center tax credit program’s uses and demand, then approved an amendment to raise the program cap from $3 million to $3.5 million in S.327 and agreed to report the bill to the floor as amended.
Kaitlyn Corpins, a program representative, told a Senate committee that the downtown and village center tax credit — created in 1998 and administered through the state’s community investment program — awards $3 million annually and is competitive, available for buildings at least 30 years old with a three-year completion window. “The downtown and village center tax credit program is the biggest carrot that we offer through the program,” Corpins said during a slide presentation outlining program types and historic uses.
Corpins described four principal credit types: a 10% historic credit that is paired with the federal rehabilitation investment tax credit (for National Register-listed projects); a facade credit covering 25% of exterior work capped at $25,000 in credit; code credits designed to offset cost of bringing older buildings up to code (often covering major items such as sprinklers or elevators and commonly used, with a roughly 50% credit and project caps); and a newer flood-mitigation credit added in fiscal year 2023 to help properties recover from or reduce vulnerability to flooding.
The presenter said demand historically outstrips supply. “We’ve been oversubscribed by a million dollars or more most every year in the past 10 years,” Corpins said, adding that some projects reapply while others cannot proceed without credit support. Committee members asked whether the program can be used for school buildings or for water/wastewater upgrades; Corpins said municipal projects and single-family homeowners are not eligible and that water/sewer projects currently fall outside the program’s core mechanisms (though brownfield and DEC processes might intersect with specific projects).
Patrick D. of the fiscal office advised the committee that under current statute the board may issue up to $3 million in credits annually and that the governor’s recommended budget maintained that $3 million. He emphasized that tax credits operate like tax expenditures and are booked when awarded, and that awarded credits can be carried forward and are not always claimed immediately.
After discussion of program demand and budget constraints, Senator Beck proposed a compromise amendment to S.327 that would change a proposed $4 million figure to $3.5 million. Senator Brock seconded the amendment. The clerk called a roll for the amendment; the transcript records named votes (Senator Beck: yes; Senator Hardy: yes; Senator Brock: yes; Senator Gulick: no; Senator Mats: yes; Senator Cummings: no) and the committee moved to report S.327 as amended. The committee then discussed next steps for transmitting the bill across chambers and preparing a clean draft of the amendment for the floor. The committee did not resolve in the hearing the longer-term policy question of whether to expand eligible uses (for example, to include water/wastewater infrastructure), instead flagging that change as requiring broader deliberation and agency input.
The committee’s report sends the amended S.327 forward for further consideration on the floor; committee members requested fiscal-notes and additional details about projects that fail to proceed because credits are unavailable.
Ending: The committee agreed to report S.327 as amended (3.5 million) and to provide a clean draft and fiscal information to support floor consideration.
