Broome and Tioga county businesses received a combined $67.9 million in state tax breaks from 2003 to 2005, according to never-before-released state Empire Zone records.

By the most generous of estimates, those companies created 5,082 jobs.

In several cases, the businesses that received the most in tax credits created few jobs in relation to the financial help they received. Other companies received considerable tax breaks but ended up cutting jobs or shutting down completely.

The state released its Empire Zone records this week after losing a court battle with The Post-Standard of Syracuse.

Huron Real Estate Associates in Endicott received $20.2 million in Empire Zone tax breaks from 2003 to 2005. Yet the company created 17 jobs during the period, equating to about $1.2 million for each new hire. Endicott Interconnect Technologies received $8.8 million in tax credits and created 83 jobs.

Representatives from both companies, which received the top two largest amounts of Empire Zone tax benefits in Broome and Tioga counties, did not immediately return calls for comment.

BSB Bank & Trust Co. received $263,223 in state tax breaks. But after Utica-based Partners Trust Financial Group acquired the bank in 2004, it laid off many Binghamton-area workers as part of its consolidation efforts. In 2003, Binghamton-based BSB employed 312 full-time equivalents and created five jobs.

Hansmann's Mills Inc. of Binghamton received $352,777 in Empire Zone tax credits, but appears to have ceased operations. Efforts to contact the company have been unsuccessful. The pancake mix maker employed 75 full-time equivalents in 2005. The business created 160 jobs in 2003, 150 jobs in 2004 and no jobs in 2005, according to state records.

"It's not solely about job creation," Delaware County Economic Development Director Glenn Nealis said. "It's also about maintaining jobs in New York state and enabling New York state businesses to be able to compete in a global marketplace."

Companies that receive Empire Zone benefits should be judged on a case-by-case basis, Nealis said. A company that makes a huge investment in equipment, for instance, is investing in the future of that company and its ability to stay in business and remain competitive, he said.

Nealis was among supporters urging the state to grant Delaware County Empire Zone status, a designation the county received July 30, 2006. He said empire zones will help retain and attract business in the county.

"We have all these companies that can be located anywhere," he said. "For the corporate headquarters, we're just a push pin on a map across the whole world. ... That's why I fought so hard" for empire zones.

State Assemblywoman Donna Lupardo, D-Endwell, noted there have been numerous success stories associated with the Empire Zone program but numerous abuses as well.

"We want to encourage as much transparency as possible so that we can adequately assess the program as we move forward," she said.

According to The Associated Press, the Syracuse newspaper first sought the Empire Zone records under the state's Freedom of Information Law in August 2005, when Republican governor George E. Pataki controlled the Department of Economic Development. Then-attorney general Eliot Spitzer defended Pataki's decision not to release the data. As governor, Spitzer has decided not to appeal.

Critics of empire zones charge the program has doled out hundreds of millions of dollars in tax breaks yet produced 50,000 jobs in two decades. The program has ballooned from $30 million in 2000 to an estimated $558 million this year, The Post-Standard reported. Empire State Development could not confirm the program's size this past week.

Records show that in 2005, Empire Zone businesses reported 26,600 jobs created and claimed $470 million in tax credits, equating to about $17,700 for each new hire.

"I think this program started off as an urban program whose specific design was the creation of jobs," said Philip Banks, Rochester's deputy commissioner for economic development. "Somewhere down the line, it lost its true intention."

Buffalo led all zones in 2005 with more than $42 million in tax breaks, with businesses reporting 1,863 jobs created.

Earlier this year, the state retained a consulting firm that is reviewing the Empire Zone program, along with the state's other economic development initiatives. The program underwent significant adjustments in 2002 and 2005, but more changes are expected, Empire State Development spokesman A.J. Carter said Wednesday.

Businesses must get local government support to be included in an Empire Zone. Tax breaks are only at the state level and are calculated based on annual progress reports submitted by each business. Before being certified, each business also must submit a projection of how many jobs it will create and the investment it expects to make in the community.

"(Companies) have to do something in order to get those tax credits," said Randal Koburn, director of the Empire Zone program. "The issue has always been, would we closely monitor and hold them accountable for their projections at the time of certification, where what they actually get is based on what they actually do."