« BARRON WILL BOW OUT OF MAYOR RACE | Main | Embarrassment for the MTA on the fight for the West Side »
February 9, 2005
City Plans to Use Real Estate Revenue Stream to Finance Stadium
The NY Times: After a year of questions about how the City is going to pay for its $300M-portion of the Jets Stadium, Bloomberg reveals that it will be financed from "annual payments in lieu of taxes, known as PILOT." The use of the revenues from the PILOT are soley at the Mayor's discretion and do not require City Council approval.
PILOT explained:
Many of these payments flow to the city's Industrial Development Agency when it strikes a deal with a major corporation, like CBS, Credit Suisse First Boston and Bear Stearns, to build a new headquarters or expand its operations. The city provides various incentives and, because the project is on city-owned land, sets an annual payment in lieu of taxes that is usually less than the property taxes on privately owned land.
The entire project attempts to sidestep any City Council authority:
Much to the Council's chagrin, Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff designed a stadium project that sidestepped the normal budget process and a vote by the Council. And at the hearing on Monday, he and [City Budget Director Mark] Page revealed that the city would subsidize the stadium with funds over which the Council had no authority.
Posted by lumi at February 9, 2005 7:39 AM