WTC Records Folder 0123 Clippings label, Sept 2001

NYC-WTC_000137033 _The MetroSection_ ....... L+ D1 CTOBER 24, 2001 MY p — Che New York Cimes City Proposes Priority Uses Of Federal Aid Seeks Tax-Exempt Bonds To Rebuild Downtown By JENNIFER STEINHAUER The Giuliani administration has set two priorities for the aid it is seeking from the federal government to encourage the re- development of Lower Manhattan, concen- trating on a small portion of the $54 billion that the state had requested. Under the city’s proposal, businessés that=> agree to return to or-set up shop in Lower Manhattan would receive a $5,000 cash bo nus -for--each~-employee, and developers would have access to tax-free bonds to help erect buildings in the area destroyed by the terrorist attack last month. The city esti- mates that the cost of reconstructing down- town at between $8 billion and $15 billion Earlier this month, Gov. George E. Pataki and Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani announced that the state would ask the federal govern- for a huge package of incentives, tax reaks and other direct federal subsidies to ebuild New York. Federal Officials ‘were Polite but cool, and some complained that elements of the plan, like billions of dollars T reimbursements for lost tax revenues d money to build a high-speed train from Manhattan to upstate New York were a bit f line with normal disaster aid. The White House budget chief has reject- ed supporting any more new aid this year, aside from the $20 billion in emergency relief provided for New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania. wel Senators Hillary Clinton and Charles. E. Schumer have been trying to cobble toge’ h €r a more modest proposal, drawing from Plans offered by business leaders and New York officials that they believe would have an easier time making it through Congress now that the country’s wartime bills are rowing, too. City officials say they while they do not begrudge the state any of its wish list, they would be happy with a plan that costs the federal government more in lost — and _Mitimately unanticipated — revenue than in pure cash outlays. “The city has.a lot of needs,” said one Official, “but in Lower Manhattan we are looking at specific ele- ments to encourage employers to come in and to encourage developers to build new buildings. The goal is to keep lower Manhat- tan as the financial hub.” Last week, the city’s budget director, Adam Barsky, and Deputy Mayor Robert Harding paid calls to legislative leaders in Washington and to officials in the Bush administration to press their case. fe clet. The city: proposes Offering businesses $5,000 per employee the first -year,- and would decrease that incentive to’ $2,500 per worker for each of the next two years. The cash benefit could be applied to the compa- ny’s federal tax bill, or taken as a lump sum. The city offers a modest version of this plan involving city taxes for businesses opening in some neighborhoods outside Manhattan. The program for returning businesses to lower Manhattan would be Capped at $750 million, or the estimated amount needed to Continued omPqge Bay . NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document