New York Gov. Kathy Hochul recently approved legislation requiring industrial development agencies (IDAs) to consider the extent to which a project provides onsite child care facilities as a criteria in their Uniform Tax Exemption Policies (“UTEP”).
The law, signed Dec. 21, 2024, amends Section 874(4)(a) of the New York General Municipal Law, and Sections 1963-a(1) and 2315(1) of the New York Public Authorities Law. Sponsors of the law say it is necessary because increasing child care costs are pushing many parents to leave the workforce to care for children. Sponsors hope this new UTEP evaluative factor will incentivize new projects to provide onsite day care to increase availability and reduce associated costs, ultimately resulting in more parents returning to and remaining in the workforce.
