The state comptroller is calling for better oversight of the state’s economic incentives. He said the agency charged with handing them out shouldn’t be determining their effectiveness.
Current law requires that the state Department of Economic and Community Development (DECD) submit a report to the General Assembly’s Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee every three years to assess the economic and fiscal impact of the state’s tax credit and abatement programs.
Comptroller Kevin Lembo testified Tuesday before the committee in favor of a bill that would shift that responsibility to the legislature’s Office of Program Review and Investigations (PRI). He said PRI would be better suited to author 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.
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 testified.
