Cuomo: State oversight would make IDAs more effective

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday he wants Industrial Development Agencies to be more effective in preserving and creating jobs, and that’s best achieved with more state oversight.

Cuomo, responding to reporters’ questions after a speech at SUNY Old Westbury, said, “When it comes to the IDAs that are giving out tax benefits, I want to make sure these entities are doing it as well as it can possibly be done. That there is coordination. That there is a plan.

“That we’re not stealing one business from one side of town and giving it a tax break to move to the other side of town, which generates no new jobs, costs tax dollars and just has us competing with ourselves,” he said.

In his 2013-14 proposed budget, Cuomo wants to require IDA projects that receive an exemption from state sales tax to be ratified by a regional economic development council, which he appointed. Only seven business sectors would be eligible for the exemptions, fewer than receive them now.

Some local IDAs and a trade group, the state Economic Development Council, have criticized the governor's proposal as diminishing local control over building projects and potentially delaying them.