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Upstate would benefi t from rehab stimulus bill

    The Gazette’s continuing support for statewide efforts to secure an expanded rehabilitation stimulus program is most welcome [March 29 editorial]. As the program was not included in the initial budget agreement, local municipal officials and developers of downtown properties will now have to refocus their efforts on seeking passage of a standalone bill, then securing Gov. Paterson’s signature.
    States with effective rehabilitation stimulus programs have seen such programs deliver an extraordinary return on investment in terms of construction starts, job growth and tax base improvements. [They attract] significant new private and federal reinvestment where it is most effective and most needed — upstate New York’s downtown centers and older neighborhoods.
    Gov. Paterson needs to deliver some good economic news for upstate New York. A.6471/S.2960 [Rehabilitation Tax Credit] is a program that will deliver meaningful results at modest cost, while leveraging significant private and federal investment well before New York state makes any payout. Thanks to local Assemblymen Ron Canestrari and Jack McEneny for sponsoring the bill, and Schenectady and Amsterdam mayors Brian Stratton and Ann Thane for their continuing advocacy to make an effective rehabilitation stimulus program a reality for Schenectady, the Mohawk Valley and beyond.

    DANIEL MACKAY
    Albany
The writer is director of the Public Policy Preservation League of New York State.