Comptroller Kevin Lembo Archive > News
COMPTROLLER LEMBO APPLAUDS LEGISLATIVE SUPPORT FOR ENHANCED ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND JOB CREATION PROGRAMSComptroller Kevin Lembo applauded the state General Assembly for adopting a measure to ensure that, on behalf of businesses and all taxpayers, the state will conduct a more efficient and effective analysis of whether hundreds of millions of dollars in economic incentives provided to businesses are fulfilling their intended purpose.
The measure will now go to Gov. Dannel P. Malloy for approval.
Current law requires that the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) submit a report to the Finance Committee every three years to assess the economic and fiscal impact of the state’s tax credit and abatement programs.
The legislation adopted by both the state House of Representatives and Senate -- An Act Concerning Municipal Taxing Districts, the Sales Tax, the Apprenticeship Tax Credit, Certain Fees and the Tax Credit Report - would, among other things, improve this reporting process.
The legislation, if signed by the governor, will streamline the reporting process, focus more emphasis on the most useful data, shift the analysis to a state office other than the one that oversees the program in order to assure the most unbiased reporting and it would increase legislative oversight and input from stakeholders, Lembo said.
"This legislative action recognizes that good economic policy can only come
after good analysis and data," Lembo said. "The state provides hundreds of
millions of dollars in tax credits to Connecticut businesses every year. Now
more than ever, Connecticut must make evidence and data-based decisions about
its economic development strategies -- to verify the facts about what incentives
are working and what resources should be deployed to more
effective investments.
"These various tax credit programs are designed to incentivize economic development and job creation. The state owes it to businesses and all taxpayers to fully analyze the return on investment that these sizable and important programs actually deliver in order to assess whether such resources are fulfilling their intended purpose or, if not, whether state funds would be better deployed to other economic development or infrastructure investments."
Lembo, who has successfully advocated for greater openness surrounding the
state’s economic development incentives, noted that legislation requiring
regular evaluation of the state’s tax credit and abatement programs dates back
to 2009. At that time, he said, Connecticut was one of the first states to
require regular evaluation of tax credit programs. Today, 20 states regularly
evaluate major economic incentive programs - and a review of other states’
evaluation criteria by PEW Charitable Trusts identifies certain areas in which
the state of Connecticut could improve its report by utilizing best practices
developed in other states.
The legislation would streamline the report requirements, transfer some of the
reporting responsibilities to the Legislative Program Review and Investigations
Committee (PRI) and require legislative committees to hold hearings to discuss
the results of the evaluations and receive input from stakeholders.
It would give PRI the primary responsibility for authoring the report, including
evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness with which the programs are being
administered, recommending whether each tax credit and abatement should be
continued or expanded and providing recommendations on improving the
effectiveness or efficiency of administration. DECD would continue to provide
the data and economic modeling required by PRI to complete the report.
"The changes allow a well-respected independent entity to evaluate the
performance of tax credits and abatements and the administration of the programs
that award them," Lembo said. "DECD has done an admirable job in providing an
unbiased analysis of the programs it oversees, but it can be challenging for an
agency to fairly evaluate the programs it promotes and administers."
Lembo said that, of the states that require regular evaluation of their tax credit programs, only two charge their economic development agency with performing the evaluation and recommending potential changes.
"An unbiased assessment of the performance and administration of tax credit and abatement programs has in other states resulted in opportunities for savings," Lembo said.
Lembo highlighted an example in New Jersey where it was discovered that the administration of an Urban Enterprise Zone program involved 135 state employees at an estimated annual cost of $6.4 million.
"Assessing both the impact of tax credit and evaluation programs and the efficiency of their administration will help our state make better decisions in the future to ensure that we are getting the best return on the investments we make in economic development initiatives," Lembo said.
"A streamlined report, relieving some of the administrative costs, should focus on the most pertinent information, like the economic impact of each program, the extent to which it is meeting statutory and programmatic goals and the efficiency with which the program is being administered," Lembo said. "In the last two reports, DECD has not fulfilled all of the statutory report requirements, noting that gathering all of the required data would require significant administrative effort while providing limited utility to the legislature and other policy makers. Removing unnecessary data requirements in the report will reduce the burden on the entity charged with producing the report while placing added focus on the most relevant data for policymakers to make informed decisions about the future of the tax credit and abatement programs evaluated in the report."
The legislation would also require that the legislature’s Appropriations and Finance Committees hold a public hearing following the release of each triennial report to publicly consider the report’s analysis and recommendations.
"Requiring a public hearing will ensure the analysis and recommendations included in the report are fully considered by the legislature," Lembo said. "Tax credits and abatements reduce tax revenue at both the state and local level. It is essential that the committees that oversee the state’s tax and spending policy fully review their impact and make informed decisions about the continuation, expansion or elimination of each program.
Lembo thanked the Finance Committee - particularly the co-chairs, state Sen. John W. Fonfara and state Rep. Jeffrey J. Berger, as well as ranking members, state Sen. Scott L. Frantz and state Rep. Christopher Davis - for raising this issue. Lembo also acknowledged PEW Charitable Trusts for their input and support.
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