New tax law gets a cool reception from REBNY.Mayor Bloomberg announced that he would sign into law the first new version of the City's 421-a program since it was created during a housing crunch (1) To process data. See number crunching. (2) To compress data. See data compression. 1. (jargon) crunch - To process, usually in a time-consuming or complicated way. in 1971 to give developers tax incentives to build housing within designated areas. The amended bill is a compromise negotiated by City Speaker Christine Quinn at the end of a months-long battle between factions of the city council to create a program that will accurately reflect the current housing market. "The passage of today's bill advances our $7.5 billion New Housing Marketplace Plan, which will provide affordable housing for 500,000 New Yorkers, more than the entire population of Atlanta The population of Atlanta grew steadily for its first 100 years, peaking in 1970 after which the population within the city limits of Atlanta began to fall while the metro area continued to grow. ," Bloomberg said. "We are pleased that a broad coalition of City Council members voted in favor of upon the side of; favorable to; for the advantage of. See also: favor this amended bill." Advocates believe Bloomberg's claims that the reforms will help spur new housing development. Opponents--including representatives of the Real Estate Board of New York--believe the program will have the opposite effect. "We were very disappointed in the approval of the bill. We believe it will produce less housing overall, and less affordable housing in general," said Michael Slattery, head of research for REBNY REBNY Real Estate Board of New York . "It will make the cost of housing more expensive for some New Yorkers and push some buyers out of the market altogether." The new bill will abolish an existing housing certificate program which allowed market rate developers within an approved area to receive 421-a benefits if they purchased certificates by developers of affordable housing outside of the approved area. This abolishment a·bol·ish tr.v. a·bol·ished, a·bol·ish·ing, a·bol·ish·es 1. To do away with; annul. 2. To destroy completely. is expected to generate more taxes, which will be used towards a $400 million trust designated exclusively for affordable housing. Under the new legislation, developers building in areas such as Greenpoint and Sunset Park, Brooklyn Sunset Park is a neighborhood in the southern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. The neighborhood is located south of Park Slope and Windsor Terrace, separated by Green-Wood Cemetery and the Prospect Expressway/NY-27, while 65th Street and the Gowanus , would no longer be eligible for the tax breaks unless they included 20% affordable housing in their projects. In theory, that aspect of the program would bode bode 1 v. bod·ed, bod·ing, bodes v.tr. 1. To be an omen of: heavy seas that boded trouble for small craft. 2. well for affordable housing, but in reality market rates in these areas cannot support developers renting 20% of their housing at below market rates, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. REBNY. In general, REBNY is glad that the 80/20 portion of 421-a was retained in the overall program. "We were pleased to see the 80/20 program remains intact. However 80/20 alone is not enough to produce, the amount of housing we need as a city, nor the amount of affordable housing we could use," Slattery said. The mayor is expected to actually sign the bill on December 28, 2006. The changes will then go into effect in 2008. |
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