Florida’s treasurer is accusing Gov. Cuomo of running a misleading ad campaign aimed at luring business to New York from the Sunshine State, The Post has learned.
“We know a huckster when we see one,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Jeff Atwater said in an interview after dashing off a letter slamming Cuomo for his “START-UP NY” ad campaign.
The Cuomo administration has spent $113 million on radio and TV commercials in-state and across the country plugging New York as a business and tourist mecca — much of it for START-UP, a new program that touts tax-free benefits for 10 years to firms that open near the Empire State’s public colleges.
But Atwater said he was shocked by the “arrogance” of the ads.
“The START-UP NY ad campaign certainly wouldn’t pass the truth-in-advertising test. Even pharmaceutical companies’ ads have a rapid disclaimer,” Atwater quipped.
Atwater said the ads are laughable because of New York’s reputation as a tax-and-spending hell.
“I feel compelled to point out some of the more glaring errors and misstatements in your ‘Open for Business’ and ‘START-UP NY’ ad campaigns. These advertisements portray an image of New York that simply cannot be supported by facts, particularly in comparison with Florida,” Atwater said in the letter to Cuomo, a copy of which was provided to The Post.
“The reality is that New York boasts the highest taxes in America, the highest cost of living in the country, and one of the worst business climates in the nation. Conversely, by every objective measure, Florida continues to be one of the best states in which to start a business and raise a family,” Atwater told Cuomo.
Cuomo’s office defended the START-UP ads as factually accurate — income, property and sales tax are zero in the identified zones — and swung back at Atwater for grandstanding.
“For a CFO, he must be pretty bad at math if he doesn’t understand that the zero in StartUp’s zero-tax zones means no state taxes for new businesses,” said Cuomo spokesman Matt Wing.
Atwater said that Florida has no income tax while New York has a top rate of nearly 9 percent. He also cited studies showing Florida near the top — and New York near the bottom or middle — for economic indicators.
But Cuomo has earned plaudits for lowering some state taxes, particularly slashing the corporate tax levy from 7.1 percent to 6.5 percent, as well as imposing a property-tax cap and cutting the estate tax.
Cuomo retained high tax rates on the wealthy, but he says all taxpayers now pay a lower income-tax rate than they did when he took office in 2011.