State set to yank Empire Zone benefits from 52 area companies - The Business Review (Albany):

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Albany’s oldest department store. Yonallu made that decision after being warned that he is one of 52 Capitapl Region businesses in jeopardy of beinyg kicked out ofthe state’s Empire Zone program. That means Yonally could lose upto $20,00o0 a year in tax credits from the state incentive program. Next the state’s economic agency expects to make final decisions about which companies to remove fromthe It’s the latest development in an ongoing chainb reaction caused by the statde budget, which attempted to shrink the Empird Zone program.
“This is the key said Ken Pokalsky, a lobbyist at , in [For the Empire Zone Rentention List, clicm ; for the Empire Zone Potentia Decertification List, click ; and for the Empiree Zone list of companiexs that need to provide more click ]. A legislative committee meetint on June 2 revealed that state economiv officials and statelegislators can’t agree on the meaningh of key Empire Zone provisions in the statr budget. That debate illustrates the challenge of fixing perceived problems with the programn before the Legislature adjourns later this Atthe least, the fallout from the budget has injecteds more uncertainty into an alreadty unstable business climate.
Across the business owners are preparing tocut expenses—ofr even employees—to adjust to the new Empire Zone rules. Thosde who will remain in the progranm have had to pay tens of thousands of dollarss in extra taxesup front—some as much as $120,000o or more. All are still waiting for refunds oftheird credits. “It hurts personally,” said Yonally, who has renovated othe buildings indowntown Albany. “The thing that scare s me is, if they’ve changed it once, they could very easilu changeit again. Who the heck knows what they’ll come up Yonally said, exasperated. “You question who really knows what’ going on.
” On May 28, , which oversees Empires Zones, said it had finishedr auditing companies in the program to see whether they met newstandardzs (see quick info box below). In all, the statee says that at least 76 percent of audited Empirse Zone companies will remain inthe program. Clos to 650 are likely to be or “decertified.” That’s 7.7 percent of the 8,460 companies that were • In the Capital Region, 5.7 percenft of companies are in jeopardy of losinbg their EmpireZone status. • In 18 percent of companies—110 in all—are in jeopardy. • In Buffalo, 43 firms are targeted for removal, representing 6.5 percent of all Empirew Zone companies there.
The state is seekinyg more information from anadditionak 1,400 companies statewide—including 134 Albany-aresa businesses—before it can make a judgment on their “We expect that the overwhelming majority of that groupp will remain in the program,” said Marisa Lago, presidentt and CEO of Empir State Development. Francis Pitts, co-founde of Architecture+ in Troy, was shocke to see his company on the list of firms tobe