If only the Knicks could run up the score like this.
The city’s Independent Budget Office said Wednesday that Madison Square Garden’s annual exemption from property taxes has tripled in value.
The break will cost taxpayers an eye-popping $ 54 million next year — up from $ 17 million this year, IBO Deputy Director George Sweeting said.
That’s because the Garden’s recent $ 1 billion renovation increased the building’s value by nearly $ 800 million.
The City Council passed a resolution Wednesday urging the state to end the controversial tax exemption.
“Madison Square Garden should not receive special, preferential treatment,” said Councilman Corey Johnson (D-Manhattan), the resolution’s sponsor.
“They are the only private corporation in the State of New York that has a section in the tax code that is written specifically for them,” he said. “They don’t need this tax break anymore.”
The city can’t get rid of the tax break without the approval of the state Legislature and governor, but Albany has long resisted calls from city pols to end the arrangement. The tax break was granted by the state in 1982, when MSG’s owners threatened to move the Knicks and the Rangers to New Jersey unless they received some form of cost relief.
The Garden’s ownership changed in the 1990s, but MSG officials say they still deserve the break.
“Madison Square Garden is a vital driver of the city’s economy,” spokeswoman Kim Kerns said, pointing out the company self-funded the renovation and that “the Yankees, Nets and Mets all receive significant public subsidies, including property tax exemptions, that are estimated to total more than $ 2.3 billion.”
Opponents noted that the Knicks and Rangers are now among the most profitable teams in their leagues and that the city needs the cash more than the arena does. While not taking a position on the MSG deal, Sweeting said that most tax experts consider exemptions that target one specific company bad policy.
“In 1982, the owners of the Garden argued that their costs, including taxes and energy, were threatening their ability to keep the basketball and hockey teams playing their games in the arena,” he said.
“Today, it is unlikely those conditions remain. . . . The Garden is now by all accounts a highly profitable enterprise.”
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