New York State lawmakers have adopted a budget that includes the “nation’s first” recovery tax credit program. 

It provides tax incentives for certified employers who hire people in recovery from substance-abuse disorders in either full- or part-time positions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on May 8.

Beginning in the year 2020, up to $2 million will be allocated for this program annually, with employers receiving a maximum tax credit of $2,000 for each eligible person they hire. 

The New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) will administer the program in conjunction with the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance.

“As the opioid epidemic continues to impact families and communities across the state, we remain committed to ensuring individuals who are in recovery have the support they need to lead healthy lives,” Cuomo said in a news release. “This tax incentive will help remove the stigma surrounding addiction and ensure those battling this disease can create a stable and sustainable path to recovery.”

The recovery tax credit will provide eligible employers up to a $2,000 credit for each eligible individual who has worked a minimum of 500 hours. The state contends it will help create a recovery-oriented culture in business and local communities and will increase employment opportunities.

An employer that provides a recovery-supportive environment and otherwise meets the program’s requirements must apply annually to OASAS to claim the credit for eligible individuals employed during the preceding calendar year. Applications for the first year of the program will be due by Jan. 15, 2021, for eligible individuals employed during the 2020 tax year.

“This tax credit is a win-win for recovering New Yorkers and employers who need to bolster their workforce with skilled employees eager to contribute to their success. We encourage businesses to take advantage of this valuable incentive while helping to break the stigma of those recovering from addiction,” Andrew Morris, executive deputy commissioner of the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, said in the release.  

SYRACUSE — Onondaga County is expecting to receive more than $326,000 in unpaid room occupancy tax revenue from some area hotels.

An audit of the county’s hotel and motel room-occupancy tax (ROT) uncovered the total, the office of Onondaga County Comptroller Matthew Beadnell announced on June 18.

The report, conducted in 2018, covered 51 hotels and motels for the period 2016 through 2017. 

“Our report found that 33 of the 51 [hotels and motels] examined were not in compliance and Onondaga County is due $326,043,” Beadnell said in a news release. “This is significant revenue for the taxpayers of Onondaga County.” 

Several hotels had “multiple” compliance issues, per the audit report, which didn’t name any of hotels that owed the tax revenue. 

Of the hotels that were not in compliance, five underpaid due to incorrect handling of the internet remarketers; 14 didn’t retain proper tax-exempt documentation to support quarterly ROT returns; one was taking the amount of tax collected from its accounting system and backing into its tax due instead of using actual revenue figures from the hotel’s guest system, the report said. In addition, 19 hotels were using incorrect figures to determine their ROT.

The findings were discussed with the management of the individual hotel/motel operators.

The ROT law permits the county to collect a five percent room-rental tax on the per-diem rental charge. In 2016, Onondaga County collected ROT of $6.5 million and in 2017, collected $6.6 million from 110 operators. 

“This recognition is particularly meaningful because it reflects our commitment to leadership advancement for women in our firm. We’re proud of these results and committed to continuously improving in terms of diversity,” Kristen Clark, managing partner in Bonadio’s Syracuse office, said in a news release. “Earning a spot on this list underscores our firm’s commitment to providing all of our people with opportunities for growth through initiatives such as mentoring, unlimited paid time off, and professional development programs that support each person’s unique situation.”

The Accounting MOVE Project is the “only annual benchmarking project for women in the profession that showcases innovations that propel women to success and inform firm leaders about related strategies for overall diversity initiatives,” the release stated. 

In its ninth year, the Accounting MOVE Project is based on the “MOVE” methodology developed by research partner Wilson-Taylor Associates, Inc., which looks at the factors proven to be essential to women’s career success:

M — Money: fair pay practices

O — Opportunity: advancement and leadership development

V — Vital supports: work-life programs that remove barriers

E — Entrepreneurship: operating experience for managing or business ownership.

The Best CPA Firms for Women list is based on each year’s MOVE results. To earn a spot on the list, an employer must have both a proportionate number of women at most or all levels of management and “proven success” with the MOVE factors. The Best CPA Firms for Equity Leadership list is also based on MOVE survey results and recognizes firms with at least 33 percent of partners and principals being women. The 33 percent figure “is widely recognized as the tipping point for members of any identity group to have individual impact,” per the release. The Equity Leadership list recognizes firms that have achieved that milestone through any combination of culture, programs, and initiatives. 

SYRACUSE — Bousquet Holstein PLLC announced that Rosemary F. Lepiane has joined the firm as an attorney in its divorce and family law practice group. 

Lepiane previously operated her own law firm for 10 years. She also previously served as assistant corporation counsel for the City of Syracuse, where she handled complex civil ligation in both Supreme and Federal Court. While there, she successfully defended the city against a $40 million-dollar civil suit. She was also a hearing examiner for the City of Syracuse. 

At Bousquet Holstein, Lepiane will work on civil matters with a focus on family court, divorce litigation, and resolution. She has worked with clients in drafting separation and prenup agreements and litigated divorce cases from evaluating assets and equitable distribution to spousal/child support and custody, according to a Bousquet Holstein news release.

Lepiane is a member of the CNY Collaborative Family Law Professionals, which seeks to resolve cases in a collaborative matter instead of litigation and she is trained in mediation. She also currently sits on the Assigned Counsel Panel Board of Directors, where she serves as board secretary. The organization seeks to ensure that all people have a right to an attorney at every stage in criminal proceedings. 

Lepiane’s prior experience in real-estate law, tax law, and bankruptcy law provides additional client support in complex family and divorce matters, Bousquet Holstein contends.

Lepiane was born and raised in Syracuse. She is a graduate of St. John Fisher College and the Syracuse University College of Law. 

Bousquet Holstein is headquartered at One Lincoln Center at 110 W. Fayette St. in downtown Syracuse. The firm also has offices in Ithaca and New York City.  

Shafer joined SFGM as of counsel, says Jeffrey Fetter, president of the firm, who spoke with CNYBJ on June 18.

Shafer is a founding partner of the Riehlman, Shafer & Shafer law firm that had offices at 397 Route 281 in Tully and at 39 Church St. in Cortland. SFGM is now leasing those spaces from Shafer for the Syracuse firm’s use, says Fetter.

Shafer served as managing partner at Riehlman, Shafer & Shafer since 2001 and brings 36 years of legal experience in all general practice areas, including real estate, estate planning, estates and trusts, corporate with a concentration in agricultural law, and civil litigation.

The firms have “similarly aligned” practice areas, per the SFGM announcement. Fetter also says he’s worked with Shafer “for a number of years.” 

“We both represent family-owned, closely held businesses and their owners as well as individuals with estate planning, business planning, and other matters,” he adds.

Shafer brought three staff members (two full- and one part-time employee) with him to the firm. The discussions to have Shafer join SFGM started earlier this year, according to Fetter. 

“It just seemed to be a good fit,” he says. “It’s an opportunity we didn’t want to pass up.”

SFGM now has 37 total employees, including 17 attorneys, says Fetter.

Besides the former Riehlman, Shafer & Shafer offices in Tully and Cortland, SFGM also operates New York offices in Syracuse, Rochester, and Le Roy, along with an office in Stuart, Florida under the SFGM name. 

Shafer is dividing his time between offices in Tully, Syracuse, and Cortland.

Shafer’s previous firm

Of the original founding partners, Mike Shafer was the only one still practicing with the firm, he tells CNYBJ in a June 18 phone interview. 

“The two other name partners have been gone from the firm for at least 20 years,” Shafer notes.

Tim Riehlman retired from the active practice in the late 1990s, pursued a master’s degree, and became a librarian.

Rick Shafer, Mike’s brother, stopped his practice a few years later and pursued another opportunity in a small finance company. “[Rick Shafer] continues to maintain offices in our building here in Tully,” says Mike Shafer.

The firm had about nine attorneys in the latter part of the 2000s, Mike Shafer notes, but the numbers began to dwindle as colleagues had chances for other opportunities in the years that followed. 

“We were a firm of four attorneys when I decided that [joining SFGM] was perhaps a good thing for me to do,” says Shafer. 

Shafer, 66, was also concerned that if he had a health issue and couldn’t practice, “it certainly made sense to have a strong team to be part of and that certainly is what I’ve gained with my affiliation with the Scolaro firm.” 

As for his remaining colleagues, one went to work for a sister firm, Riehlman, Shafer & Shaw of Tully, which focuses on commercial-collection work, or recovery for banks and credit unions, according to Shafer. 

Two other attorneys, who also had a chance to join SFGM, decided that they wanted to remain independent and continue providing services in Tully from the same office, he adds. 

“The goal here was to provide some continuity for our clients because we have 40 years of history here in terms of wills and abstracts and files for clients,” says Shafer.