|
ALBANY-Gov. George E. Pataki has signed into law legislation creating a new voluntary check-off box on State income tax forms, allowing New York residents and businesses to donate to the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation. The Governor joined members of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation that announced that the Foundation had already raised over $100 million towards the creation of the Memorial. Governor Pataki serves as an Honorary Trustee to the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation, along with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani.
"As we continue to move forward rebuilding from the devastating attacks of September 11th, we've placed the centerpiece of our efforts, the World Trade Center Memorial, as our top priority," Governor Pataki said. "The tax check-off box created today gives generous New Yorkers a way to pay tribute to our nearly 3,000 fallen heroes.
"The memorial we will build at the World Trade Center site will be a lasting tribute to those we lost on September 11th and in 1993 -- one that will not only honor the friends, neighbors and love ones we lost, but demonstrate the strength and resilience of our City and our Nation as we continue to heal, remember and rebuild," the Governor said. "By making a donation through an income tax check-off, we can renew our commitment to building a lasting memorial that all Americans can be proud. The over $100 million in donations announced to the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation and those future donations from individuals and businesses around the world will ensure we fulfill our solemn obligation to create a fitting memorial to those who perished that honors their lives, mourns their passing, provides solace to their loved ones and tells their story to the world."
The Governor's legislation was first announced in the State of the State Address in January and was passed unanimously by both the Senate and the Assembly.
The Memorial at the World Trade Center site will feature a landscaped civic plaza with two massive voids aligned with the footprints where the twin towers once stood. Design elements include a one-and-a-half acre clearing at the plaza level and a gallery on the second memorial level where the names of those lost on September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 can be viewed as water cascades behind.
Between the two pools, Memorial Hall will offer visitors room to sit and reflect, as well as serve as a place to orient visitors. On the lowest level, the foundations of the two towers are preserved. This level also features a contemplation room for the remains of those lost and never identified, and an adjacent area serving as a sacred space for the victims' families. The adjacent over 100,000 square-foot interpretive will tell the countless individual and collective stories of the attacks. The Memorial Museum will recognize the rescue and recovery efforts and the innumerable acts of heroism that emerged from the tragedy.
The bill signed amends the State Tax Law and creates the check-off box on both corporate franchise and individual personal income tax forms beginning with the 2005 tax year. It creates a special "World Trade Center Memorial Foundation Fund" in the custody of the State tax commissioner, with funds earmarked only for costs associated with construction and installation of the World Trade Center Memorial. The State tax commissioner will pay donated funds on vouchers approved by the chairman of the board of directors of the World Trade Center Memorial Foundation.
Since 1995, New Yorkers have donated nearly $17 million to the six other special tax check-off funds, which include Return a Gift to Wildlife, Lake Placid Olympic Training Center Fund, Breast Cancer Research and Education Funds, Missing and Exploited Children Fund, Gift for Alzheimer's Disease Assistance Fund, and the Prostate Cancer Research Fund. 10-21-05
A donation to any of New York's special tax check-offs either reduces an individual's tax refund by the amount pledged or increases by that same amount what a taxpayer must remit to the State.
10-21-05
© 2005 North
Country Gazette
|
