New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer proposed tripling the city's earned-income tax credit contribution from 5% to 15% of the federal tax credit.
This measure, he said, would lift 15,000 additional families out of poverty and inject millions of dollars to the local economy.
"The earned-income tax credit is among the most effective anti-poverty programs in America, and New York City is in a position to greatly increase its impact," Stringer
The city and state must both enact any change.
Stringer also called for the establishment of a city land bank and a "comprehensive, coordinated" growth strategy for minority- and women-owned business enterprises and small businesses.
According to Stringer, 20% of New Yorkers live below the poverty line, but in neighborhoods such as Mott Haven and Hunts Point, both in the Bronx, that number exceeds 40%.
Low income New Yorkers now may be eligible for three separate earned-income tax credits: the federal, which refunds a percentage of the individual's federal income tax; the state, an additional credit on the individual's state income tax, which is worth 30% percent of the federal credit, and the city, a third credit on the individual's city income tax.
Stringer's land bank would combine a traditional land bank, which has the power to acquire vacant and tax-delinquent properties, with a so-called land trust, which retains property and can convert it into permanent affordable housing.
"[It] creates a more powerful tool than either one standing alone," said Stringer.
Under his proposal, the city would partner with nonprofit, community-based organizations to build affordable housing. "Since we already own the land, there are no investors to pay back, so we can use those savings to drive down rents," he said.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has seeded about a dozen land banks statewide, using money he recovered from lenders involved in the housing crash. Schneiderman last month announced a new funding round.
To boost involvement with women-and-minority enterprises, Stringer said the city should partner with community-based banks and insurance companies to provide more loans, surety bonds and credit lines to smaller businesses. He also called for city agencies to pay their bills on time.
Last year, said Stringer, the city spent $14 billion on goods and services, from office supplies to major construction projects. Merely 5.3% of that spending, he added, went to MWBE firms.
"These companies could be wealth creators across the five boroughs," he said.
Stringer cited the success of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 20% of whose capital plan now flows to such firms.
