* § 400. Definitions. For the purposes of this article: 1. "Benefit-cost ratio" means the following calculation: the numerator is the sum of (i) the value of all remuneration projected to be paid for all net new jobs during the period of participation in the program, and (ii) the cost of qualified investments to be made by the business entity during the period of participation in the program, and the denominator is the amount of total tax benefits under this article that is projected to be used and refunded. 2. "Certificate of eligibility" means the document issued by the department to an applicant that demonstrates that the applicant has been admitted as a participant into the economic transformation and facility redevelopment program by the department. Possession of a certificate of eligibility does not by itself guarantee the eligibility of the participant to claim the tax credits allowed pursuant to section thirty-five of the tax law. 3. "Net new jobs" means jobs created in the economic transformation area that:

(a) are new to the area;

(b) have not been transferred from employment in this state with the participant or with a related person in this state, and are not replacing jobs with similar titles or job responsibilities;

(c) are either full-time wage-paying jobs or equivalent to a full-time wage-paying job requiring at least thirty-five hours per week;

(d) are filled for more than six months in a taxable year;

(e) are not general executive officers of the participant; and

(f) may not be filled with individuals having the familial relationship defined in section 267(c)(4) of the internal revenue code with any owner of the participant. 4. "Participant" means a business entity that:

(a) is a new business as defined in subdivision nine of this section.

(b) has completed an application prescribed by the department to be admitted into the program;

(c) has demonstrated how it plans to meet the eligibility criteria in section four hundred one of this article; and

(d) has been issued a certificate of eligibility by the department.

(e) provided, however that the requirement in paragraph (a) of this subdivision that the participant be a new business shall not apply to a closed facility as defined in paragraph (d) of subdivision eleven of this section. 5. "Preliminary schedule of benefits" means the estimated aggregate amount of the tax credits that a participant in the economic transformation and facility redevelopment program is eligible to receive pursuant to section thirty-five of the tax law. The schedule shall indicate the annual amount of each credit a participant expects to claim in each of its five years of eligibility. 6. "Qualified investment" means an investment in tangible property (including a building or a structural component of a building) owned by a business entity which:

(a) is depreciable pursuant to section one hundred sixty-seven of the internal revenue code;

(b) has a useful life of four years or more;

(c) is acquired by purchase as defined in section one hundred seventy-nine (d) of the internal revenue code;

(d) has a situs in an economic transformation area in this state in which it is certified; and

(e) is placed in service in an economic transformation area in the state on or after the date the certificate of eligibility is issued to the business entity. 7. "Related person" means a "related person" pursuant to subparagraph (c) of paragraph three of subsection (b) of section four hundred sixty-five of the internal revenue code. 8. "Remuneration" means wages paid to and benefits received by an employee by a participant in the economic transformation and facility redevelopment program. 9. "New business" means a business entity that satisfies all of the following tests:

(a) the business entity must not be currently operating or located within the economic transformation area in which it is applying for certification;

(b) the business entity must not be moving existing jobs into the economic transformation area in which it is applying for certification from another area of the state;

(c) the business entity must not be substantially similar in ownership and operation to another taxpayer taxable or previously taxable under section one hundred eighty-three or one hundred eighty-four or former section one hundred eighty-five of article nine, former section one hundred eighty-six or article nine-A, twenty-two, thirty-two or thirty-three of the tax law or the income or losses of which is or was includable under article twenty-two of the tax law;

(d) the business entity must not have caused individuals to transfer from existing employment with a related person and located in New York state to similar employment with the business entity;

(e) the business entity must not have acquired, purchased, leased, or had transferred to it real property located in the economic transformation area in which it is applying for certification if that real property was previously owned by an entity with similar ownership, regardless of form of incorporation or organization; and

(f) the business entity must not be substantially similar in operation to a business entity from which it has acquired real or tangible personal property that is located in the economic transformation area in which it is applying for certification. 10. "Economic transformation area" means:

(a) In the region of the state outside of the metropolitan commuter transportation district (as defined in section twelve hundred sixty-two of the public authorities law) and the port authority district (as defined by article two of chapter one hundred fifty-four of the laws of nineteen hundred twenty-one), an area within a five mile radius in this state of a closed facility. If more than sixty persons were employed in full-time positions at a closed facility on April first, two thousand eleven, then it is the area within a ten mile radius in this state of that closed facility. The commissioner may increase the radius of the area from ten miles to up to fifteen miles in this state based on factors including but not limited to population density, the poverty rate, the unemployment rate and the loss of jobs in the region. However, the increased radius may not extend into the metropolitan commuter transportation district. The commissioner may also decrease the radius of the ten mile area but to no less than a five mile radius based on factors including but not limited to population density, the poverty rate, the unemployment rate and the loss of jobs in the region. Upon notification of the commissioner, pursuant to subdivision eleven of this section, the commissioner shall establish the size of the transformation area prior to the acceptance of any applications into the program.

(b) In the metropolitan commuter transportation district outside the port authority district, an area within a one mile radius in this state of a closed facility. If more than sixty persons were employed in full-time positions at a closed facility on April first, two thousand eleven, then it is the area within a five mile radius in this state of that closed facility, provided that the commissioner may decrease the radius of the expanded area but to no less than a one mile radius based on factors including but not limited to population density, the poverty rate, the unemployment rate, and the loss of jobs in the area and whether the radius would extend outside of the metropolitan commuter transportation district. Upon notification of the commissioner pursuant to subdivision eleven of this section, the commissioner shall establish the size of the transformation area prior to the acceptance of any applications into the program.

(c) In the port authority district, an area limited to the site of the closed facility.

(d) Notwithstanding paragraph (b) of this subdivision, with respect to a closed facility described in paragraph (d) of subdivision eleven of this section, the economic transformation area shall consist only of the acreage of the closed facility. 11. "Closed facility" means:

(a) a correctional facility, as defined in paragraph (a) of subdivision four of section two of the correction law, that has been selected by the governor of the state of New York for closure after April first, two thousand eleven but no later than March thirty-first, two thousand twenty-six; or

(b) a facility operated by the office of children and family services under article nineteen-G of the executive law that is closed pursuant to authority granted to such office in a chapter of the laws of two thousand eleven; or

(c) which has been closed provided that the commissioner of correctional services or the commissioner of the office of children and family services has notified the commissioner of such closure; or

(d) a facility previously owned by the state, and when operated, was operated as a psychiatric facility pursuant to section 7.17 of the mental hygiene law, and located within the metropolitan commuter transportation district but outside New York city. * NB Repealed December 31, 2026