David Yassky

Wasting New Yorkers' Tax Dollars (New York Sun)

 

As a New York City Council member, I know that my constituents pay the highest taxes in the country. That's why it drives me nuts to see bureaucrats waste money. City agencies owe it to the taxpayers to be as careful with their money as they would be with their own.

Recently, I discovered a government program that has wasted millions of tax dollars. But the worst part is that it is about to waste some more.

The program has two parts called "HomeWorks" and "StoreWorks." The idea behind them is to take dilapidated apartment buildings and storefronts that are owned by the government — usually as a result of foreclosure — and put them into private hands.

Of course, there is a simple way to do this. It is called an auction — that is how sellers usually make sure they are getting top dollar for their property.

But that would be way too straightforward for the bureaucrats. Instead, the city gives these properties to builders either for nothing or at nominal cost. The builders fix up the properties and then sell them at an "appraised value."

Every step in this process is wrong. First, builders are guaranteed to make a sizable profit because the renovation costs are always well below the appraised value of the finished product.

I have nothing against business people making a profit, but the problem here is that the builders are selected by the City Housing Department, not through competitive bidding. Programs like this, where the right to make a profit is awarded by the government — not earned in the marketplace — are an invitation to corruption.

Council Member David Yassky