"Nassau County, the nation's first mature suburban county, has stopped growing," Suozzi said. "Nassau County needs an Empire Zone to foster future growth, expand its tax base, create jobs and create new income tax revenues of New York State. While 55 counties across New York State are home to 72 Empire Zones, including three in Suffolk County, 10 in New York City and two in Westchester County, Nassau County has no Empire Zones."
"Part of our plan for the future of Nassau County is to restore and revitalize our community's downtown areas," County Executive Suozzi added. "Ours is the first suburban county in the country and we are experiencing problems that have not yet been seen in any community like ours. The Empire Zone program is an important step toward achieving our goal to foster positive growth."
Nassau County is seeking to attract community investment, which is key to the revitalization of the downtown areas, he said. The county is already partnering with the City of Glen Cove to design comprehensive community and revitalization programs which would result in an increase in job opportunities.
Those businesses that participate and invest in an Empire Zone are eligible for sales tax exemption, real property and business tax credits. The purpose of the Empire Zones Program is to give companies increasing their employment opportunity to operate on an almost "tax-free" basis for up to 10 years in designated areas of the state, with additional savings available on a declining basis in years 11 through 15.
Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) has said that "an Empire Zone is a powerful economic development tool that would help Nassau County overcome hurdles and ease the concerns voiced by prospective employers."
This important economic tool will be a support mechanism to revitalize commercial and light industry in economically depressed areas within the county, officials said. An Empire Zone is one of the most effective tools that other New York State areas have utilized to attract business to such areas.
While Nassau County is known as the home to an affluent, highly taxed, well-educated population, as well as many mid-size corporations and regional finance, insurance and real estate firms, it also has several communities that have had an influx of poor, minority and immigrant groups who live in segregated areas and are deprived of many economic, educational and social opportunities, county officials said. These communities are largely located in and around the county's older downtown areas, where often the infrastructure is not sufficient to support the demanding needs of the local residents and businesses. Compounding the problems of economic and physical despair in its low-income areas, Nassau County has been impacted negatively by the downsizing of military installations and a loss of defense contracts from the local defense industry, which resulted in decreased manufacturing needs and industry mergers, taking many jobs away from the county.
The areas for the proposed zones throughout the county are largely located in the downtown areas where infrastructure cannot support the needs of the local businesses and residents, public transportation is lacking and environmental justice issues are rampant, officials said. The focus is on job retention and attraction, and these themes will continue as the basis for business expansion and employment generation in the county's economic development zone.
Nassau County seeks Empire Zone designation for six non-contiguous areas that meet the criteria for such zones set forth in the General Municipal Law. They are: Town of Hempstead (for communities like Elmont, Franklin Square, Inwood, Roosevelt, Uniondale and West Hempstead), New Cassel, Bethpage, City of Glen Cove, Village of Hempstead and the Village of Freeport.
