State accepts Morrisville State College as tax-free area in Start-Up NY program

MORRISVILLE — Empire State Development (ESD) has accepted Morrisville State College’s application to participate in the Start-Up NY program with a designation of a tax-free area for the program.

Morrisville State is “moving forward” to partner with local and new businesses after its approval, the school said in Tuesday news release.

Launched in October, Start-Up NY provides incentives for eligible businesses to relocate, start up, or expand tax-free on or near a college campus for 10 years.

Those companies’ employees will pay no state or local income taxes in that time period, according to the program guidelines.

Morrisville State will seek to locate businesses that “align” with the college’s mission and academic strengths, the school said. The college sees its strengths in the areas of agriculture, technology, and innovative entrepreneurship.

Public colleges and universities, including campuses in the State University of New York, provide their plans to community stakeholders for a 30-day comment period before submitting the plans to ESD, according to the governor’s office.

After consultation with SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher, ESD reviews the plans for final approval and designation of tax-free areas.

For all other schools, Gov. Cuomo announced the Start-Up NY Approval Board in February.

The Approval Board’s role is to “primarily” review and approve plans for tax-free areas that private universities and colleges submit.

Contact Reinhardt at ereinhardt@cnybj.com