| Empire Zones
OOC and the City of Oswego Community Development
Office co-administer the EZ in the city of Oswego. The EZ in the
city of Fulton is administered by the City of Fulton Community Development
Agency with support from OOC.
Both state-designated zones attract new and
established industry with a variety of state and locally-provided
economic benefits such as:
Power Rate Reductions
Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation gives eligible businesses significant
reduction in electrical costs.
Unlimited Free Water (Oswego EZ only)
New EZ certified manufacturing businesses are provided unlimited
free water for three years.
Telephone Rate Reduction
Bell Atlantic provides EZ certified businesses, excluding government
agencies and resellers, with a 5% rate reduction for intrastate-intra-LATA
charges.
Property Tax Abatement
Eligible businesses can receive real property tax abatements through
the IDA.
Mortgage Tax Abatement
Eligible businesses can receive exemption of the 1% tax through
the IDA.
Sales Tax Abatement
For eligible businesses, the State and local sales tax is exempted
for tangible personal depreciable property and building materials
used to improve real property.
Gas Discounts
Available to non-residential consumers from Niagara Mohawk. A business
must increase gas volume by a specific amount based on its Service
Classification. Average discount is 7.5-15%.
WTC and ITC Refunds for New Businesses
One-time only refunds of up to 50% of eligible WTC and ITC credits
may be available to businesses less than four years old.
Wage Tax Credit
Available to certified EZ businesses which hire new employees. Credit
is for a 5-year term beginning with the first tax year in which
EZ wages are paid, of which the tax credit/year may not exceed 50%
of the tax due. Balance can be carried forward. It includes $3,000
for targeted employees paid at least 135% of minimum wage and $1,500
for all other employees.
Investment Tax Credit
Certified EZ manufacturing businesses investing in production property,
industrial waste treatment facilities, air pollution control facilities
and/or research and development property, which are eligible for
wage tax credit, can receive 10% ITC for corporations and/or 8%
for individuals. Tax credit/year may not exceed 50% of the tax due.
Balance can be carried forward.
Employment Incentive Credit (EIC)
Available to businesses which have received the EZ ITC and increase
employment (must be 101% of the average number of employees in the
year before the ITC was claimed). EIC is equal to 30% of the EZ
ITC claimed and can be claimed for three consecutive years.
New
York State Empire Zone website
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