New Yorkers Pass Up 9/11 Donation

The World Trade Center Memorial raised just $150,085 from New York State taxpayers who were offered a chance to support the memorial through a checkoff box on their tax returns, reports the New York Daily News.

New York residents can contribute to up to seven charities by filling out a checkoff box on their annual tax forms, but less than 15,000 people who filed their 2005 returns supported the September 11 memorial.

Gretchen Dykstra, president of the memorial foundation, told the Daily News that the organization was “slightly disappointed” by the results.

The foundation has raised $130-million from private donors; government agencies have committed another $300-million, reports the Associated Press.

But the project’s price tag topped $972-million recently, and the foundation suspended fund raising temporarily to evaluate its costs and designs.

Read The Chronicle’s article on state tax forms and charity fund raising.