NEW YORK, NY October 07, 2009 —Comptroller Bill Thompson says the city is mismanaging a program that provides tax exemptions to certain developers. But with four weeks to go until the election the city Department of Finance is sharply disputing his findings. WNYC's Cindy Rodriguez reports.

REPORTER: The program in question gives developers up to 25 years worth of tax breaks when they build in certain parts of the city. The comptroller's office says an audit revealed that taxes were miscalculated for dozens of Manhattan properties resulting in a loss of more than $100 million over the life of the tax exemptions.

Thompson, the Democratic nominee for Mayor, is ratcheting up his criticism of the finance department, which answers to his opponent, Mayor Michael Bloomberg:

THOMPSON: Such losses are not only unconscionable as we struggle to cope with an economic downturn that has deprived the city of critical revenue but would be a grave disservice to many New Yorkers who work hard to pay their taxes in these tough financial times.

REPORTER: In a sharply worded response, finance commissioner David Frankel says the audit gets the facts wrong and misleads the public. For WNYC, I'm Cindy Rodriguez.