Commercial subsidy program cost up $100M

The Industrial and Commercial Incentive Program, the city’s largest subsidy program for commercial property development, will cost the city $512 million in tax revenues this year, a $100 million increase from last year. The city is trying to substitute the ICIP with the new Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program, authorized by the state on July 1st, which would change eligibility and benefit schedules to slow the growth of foregone tax revenue. The ICIP’s costs have been growing over the last ten years, and the program’s cost has tripled since 1998.