"The last bill before me is Introductory number 665 sponsored by Speaker Miller and Council Members Rivera, Perkins, Weprin, Quinn, Monserrate, Koppell, Katz, Brewer, Clarke, Comrie, Dilan, Gentile, Gerson, James, Liu, Nelson, Palma, Reed, Reyna, Sanders, Seabrook, Vann, Moskowitz, Gennaro, DeBlasio, Gioia, Vallone, McMahon, Stewart, Yassky, Boyland, Jackson, Barron, Gonzalez, Martinez, Recchia, Lopez, Sears, Fidler, and the Public Advocate, Betsy Gotbaum.

"Under state law, developments can be exempted from local tax by the Industrial Development Agency to promote economic development.  Often, the developer is required to make a payment in lieu of taxes, known as a PILOT, to the Industrial Development Agency.

"This bill provides that PILOTs may only be spent pursuant to one or more agreements between the Mayor and the Council.  The bill also provides for a quarterly report setting forth details about each PILOT agreement.

"When the Council proposed an earlier bill relating to PILOTs, I opposed it because it failed to recognize the Mayor's authority under state law to direct PILOT payments.  While the Council and I had different views as to the appropriate method for directing PILOTs, we did not want economic development projects in the City to stagnate as a result of this disagreement.  Therefore, we agreed to this compromise that will allow PILOTs to continue to be spent to generate economic development.

"I would like to thank the City Council for their work on this bill."