New York IDA Accountability
- $12.19 billion in property tax exemptions granted by 104 NYS IDAs, shifted onto homeowners — $2,384 per household statewide
- 40.5% of Erie County IDA beneficiaries also donated to political campaigns
- 100% project approval rate at Erie County IDA during the 2017 State Comptroller audit — no project was ever denied or clawed back
- Harris Beach PLLC earned an estimated $3.7–4.9 million from ECIDA while directing $79,850 in campaign contributions to officials who appoint the board it advises
- The system operates identically under both Republican and Democratic administrations — donations simply redirect to whoever holds power
What is an IDA?
Industrial Development Agencies are public authorities created by New York State to promote economic development. They grant property tax exemptions, sales tax exemptions, and mortgage recording tax waivers to private companies in exchange for promises of job creation and investment.
New York has 104 IDAs — more than any other state. They collectively control billions in tax exemptions with minimal oversight and near-universal approval rates.
What we found
By cross-referencing IDA project data (34,348 projects) from the NYS Authorities Budget Office against 12.49 million campaign contribution records from the NYS Board of Elections, we identified systematic financial relationships between the companies receiving tax breaks and the politicians who appoint the boards granting them.
The numbers
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Total IDA projects analyzed | 34,348 |
| Total property tax exemptions | $12.19 billion |
| IDA beneficiaries matched to campaign donations | 1,618 |
| Total donations from IDA beneficiaries | $41.97 million |
| Per-household tax shift (statewide) | $2,384 |
| IDA beneficiaries with PPP loans (triple-dippers) | 111 |
| Combined triple-dipper government subsidy | $460.7 million |
County deep dives
- Erie County — The flagship investigation: a $90M budget deficit, $266.8M in school tax exemptions, and a bipartisan machine that never says no
- Greene County — Highest per-household tax shift in NYS ($11,073); a gas plant that got $176M for 31 jobs then sold to a hedge fund manager
- Nassau County — Mangano corruption pipeline; 39 beneficiaries donated $183K
- Rensselaer County — MetLife’s $55.4M in exemptions while employment collapsed 85%
- Onondaga County — Pyramid/Destiny USA: $201M in subsidies at a 9,094x exemption-to-donation ratio
- Tioga County — A racetrack, a convicted senator, and 12 years of dual-hatting
Full county briefs are being prepared for publication.
Data downloads
- County Scorecards — All 104 IDAs ranked
- Tax Shift by County — Per-household burden
- School District Impact — 478 districts
Methodology
This investigation uses exact name matching and LLC-parent matching between IDA beneficiary lists and NYSBOE contribution records. Word-overlap matching (75% threshold) is used for supplementary analysis but excluded from headline figures. See full methodology for details.