February 18, 2003
The acronyms that never sleep
With its $3 billion tax increment financing (TIF) plan for building a West Side Olympic/football stadium development facing widespread criticism as unworkable, the city of New York is quietly planning to revamp its financing scheme, according to an article in yesterday's Crain's NY Business. The new plan: Something called payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT), whereby land is turned over to a public authority, and developers pay fees "in lieu of" property taxes. "The precise structure may be different than a classic TIF, but the concept of using incremental revenues generated in the area is still exactly what we're planning to do," deputy mayor (and West Side landholder) Dan Doctoroff told Crain's. "The name will be different." Hey, there's an idea: maybe they can even cut a naming rights deal.
