Salute to industry orgs.: REBNY stays busy

Continued from the April 28, 2009 edition of the New York Real Estate Journal. We have been working with the Association for a Better New York (ABNY), the Business Council, and the Citizens Budget Commission (CBC) to promote fiscal reform. As part of our call for fiscal reform, the state, and the city as well, must control spending otherwise, taxpayers will continually face tax increases as the principal way to address the deficits resulting from uncontrolled growth in expenses. In February, the NYS assembly passed a package of rent regulation bills that would have an adverse economic impact on the more than one million rent regulated units in New York. This includes an increase in income (to $240,000 from $175,000) and rent (to $2,700 from $2,000) for luxury and vacancy decontrol; a reduction in vacancy allowance to 10% from 20%; would extend rent stabilization to section 8 properties that come out of the program; would extend rent stabilization to all post-1974 Mitchell-Lama projects which have or will leave the program; and would transfer responsibility for rent regulations to the New York City Council. Expanding rent regulations sends the message that New York is closing its doors to outside investors - that the rules keep changing and public policy is unpredictable. We have been working with the Rent Stabilization Association (RSA) and we hope that the NYS senate will recognize the problems and leave the current rent stabilization system unchanged. City hall: In the State of the City address, mayor Bloomberg announced his proposal to significantly reduce the number of individuals and unincorporated businesses subject to the Unincorporated Business Tax (UBT). Currently, firms subject to the UBT receive a 100% tax credit if their tax liability is $1,800 or less, and a partial credit if their liability is between $1,800 and $3,200. The proposal would increase the credit to provide a 100% credit for tax liability up to $3,400 and a partial credit for tax liability between $3,400 and $5,400. REBNY has been an advocate for the elimination of the UBT. This proposal is an important reduction in the cost of doing business in New York, especially for brokers, and should encourage the creation of new businesses and new jobs. REBNY has developed a series of economic development proposals, including commercial, retail and housing proposals, intended to stimulate job creation, job retention and real estate activity, particularly office and retail leasing, and new housing production. REBNY will continue to advocate positions at all levels of government over the next few months to benefit our membership, our industry and our city. The goal of our efforts is to help bring us out of the recession, restore confidence in the credit market, control government spending and lower taxes. Steven Spinola is the president of the Real Estate Board of New York, New York, N.Y.