Nearly 46,000 jobs have been created by expanding businesses, housing developments and other ongoing projects that receive tax breaks from industrial development agencies on Long Island, according to a new report.
IDAs are the primary tool of local governments to create and retain jobs. The tax breaks that they grant can equal hundreds of thousands of dollars or millions of dollars depending on their duration.
The office of state Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli last week released its annual IDA report card, which found Long Island ranked No. 2 behind New York City in hiring by IDA-backed projects as of the end of 2023. The city had 62,260 jobs compared with Long Island’s 45,862.
In the past nine years, Long Island and New York City have traded places as the biggest job creator among the state’s 10 regions. The former has come out on top for seven years, based on annual report cards by the Division of Local Government and School Accountability, which is part of DiNapoli’s office.
“IDAs can provide benefits to the communities they serve through support to local businesses and job growth,” DiNapoli said. “But local officials and other stakeholders should closely monitor the costs and benefits associated with these projects to ensure they are yielding the expected positive results.”
His office calculated the net jobs gained at each IDA project by comparing 2023 employment with that for the year before the project received IDA tax breaks aid. Data for 2024 will be published next year, officials said.
The state’s 106 active IDAs can confer tax breaks for a period of 10, 15, 20 or in a few instances, 40 years. The duration of the aid depends on the project’s size and the number of jobs to be created and retained.
Companies failing to keep their employment promises can have their tax breaks rescinded and be compelled to pay back what they already received.
More than $250 million in tax breaks in 2023
Among the eight local IDAs, projects supported by the Nassau County IDA have done the most hiring — 14, 202 jobs as of Dec. 31, 2023, according to the most recent available data.
Projects supported by the Glen Cove IDA created the fewest jobs, 373.
Long Island’s IDAs provided $250.1 million in tax incentives in 2023. That translates into $5,451 per job created.
Among the local IDAs, Glen Cove IDA had the largest tax breaks per new job, $41,823, and Suffolk County had the lowest, $1,177, based on a Newsday analysis of data in the report card.
In Glen Cove, Ann S. Fangmann, executive director of the city’s IDA, said it “has a higher proportion of residential projects than most other IDAs and these projects produce fewer jobs per dollar of benefit.”
She also said two large housing projects — Garvies Point and Village Square — will produce benefits that don’t show up in the comptroller’s statistics, including redevelopment of polluted land and creation of affordable apartments and construction jobs.
Kelly Murphy, CEO of the Suffolk IDA, said, “Each transaction reflects careful planning, thoughtful analysis, and a focus on long-term impact.”
Besides creating the most jobs among local IDAs, the Nassau County IDA’s 167 projects had the largest total value, $5 billion, and received the most tax breaks, $83.7 million.
William Rockensies, board chairman of the Nassau IDA, said its performance reflects the county’s economic strengths and pro-business attitude.
“Our regional assets are what keep and attract businesses here,” he said. “But it’s our highly trained workforce and their ability to thrive in a wide variety of industries that allow businesses to succeed.”