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New York City wasted as much as $2.8 billion over an 11-year period on condominium apartments included in a massive affordable housing tax break program, according to a new study, Reuters reported yesterday. Instead of fulfilling its mandate to stimulate additional housing development, the benefits are going to condo owners in the form of tax relief through the program known as 421-a, according to the study by the New York City Independent Budget Office (IBO). Critics have said 421-a subsidizes mainly market-rate apartments at a huge annual cost to the city. The program, which stopped accepting new applications a year ago, faces an uncertain future as Gov. Andrew Cuomo wrestles with lawmakers about how to revive it, including whether to keep condos in the program at all. Enacted in 1971, the 421-a program is supposed to promote affordable housing by providing a tax break for up to 25 years if developers set aside apartments for low-income New Yorkers in their residential construction projects. In its study, the IBO only examined condos, comparing more than 17,000 repeat condo sales from 2005-15. Manhattan condo owners paid only 53 to 61 cents on average for every dollar received in tax savings, the study found. "Condo owners receive tax relief through a program intended to incentivize development," the IBO's Geoffrey Propheter wrote. "It represents wasted dollars because buyers are receiving more in benefits than they pay for."