SUNY Could Be Tax-Free Haven for Start-Ups

ALBANY-Gov. Andrew Cuomo plans to boost the state university system's potential for attracting startups and investment by making college campuses into tax-free zones for new businesses. That includes no income tax for employees, and no sales, property or business taxes for the first 10 years.

The Cuomo administration's Tax-Free NY program would apply to unused space at all SUNY campuses outside of New York City and designated private colleges north of Westchester County, as well as up to 200,000 square feet surrounding the campus. It's intended for both out-of-state-business relocating to New York State and in-state businesses that are expanding.

The plan is intended to encourage high-tech and other growth sectors to align with the SUNY system, and also to counter the Empire State's image as one of the most highly taxed in the nation. “We birth the ideas in New York because we have the schools and the minds and the talent,” Cuomo said Wednesday, according to the Buffalo News. “We form the businesses and then they leave and go to a state with a lower tax environment. We lose them in the first year.”

In order to be eligible for Tax-Free NY, a business must have a relationship with the university and operate in a sector related to the school's academic mission. That would mean tech-oriented companies gravitating to campuses with strong applied sciences programs, for example. Along with tens of millions of square feet at state universities, the plan would also make up to three million square feet available at private universities and 20 strategically located state-owned properties, as well.

The administration cites the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering on the campus of the University of Albany as a model. A partnership of academia and industry, the college grew into an 800,000-square-foot complex and helped make the Capital Region a hub of the commercial nano-industry.

According to published reports, response to the plan thus far has been mixed among both business and lawmkaers, although the Business Council of New York State has given it the nod. “We appreciate this proposal designed to boost the upstate economy, and look forward to seeing the details,” Heather Briccetti, president and CEO of the council, says in a statement. “It would provide significant tax incentives for emerging tech companies' businesses, for new investments by existing New York companies, and for other businesses' collaborating with SUNY and our private universities. It is an innovative approach, and illustrates that we can and should do more to make the state's overall economy climate more competitive.”