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Audit Shows Gap between Good Intentions and Actions

New York, NY—Advocates from ALIGN praised the increased scrutiny of the New York City Industrial Development Agency (IDA) through a new audit by Comptroller John Liu’s office. The audit examined the IDA’s project financing, evaluation, and monitoring process.

Statement from Nathalie Alegre, Organizer at ALIGN:

“New York City’s IDA has instituted some transparency and accountability reforms in recent years, but this audit shows the gap between good intentions and actions. Clearly the NYCIDA needs to work harder to uphold its own standards when it comes to measuring the impact of corporate subsidies, monitoring compliance, and giving the public a money-back guarantee when subsidies fail to create the promised jobs. Jobs and money are both in short supply right now, so it’s concerning that the NYCIDA failed to recapture more than $16 million dollars that it should have. The time is right for taking a closer look at how the NYCIDA is fulfilling its mission and putting policy into practice.”

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ALIGN’s mission is to create good jobs, vibrant communities and an accountable democracy for all New Yorkers. ALIGN co-anchors the Getting Our Money’s Worth Coalition, a broad coalition of public policy experts, government watchdogs, labor unions, community and religious organizations, and concerned small business owners, workers and taxpayers.