New York, NY —

Low income New Yorkers could soon see some extra cash in their pockets. During his state of the city address, Mayor Bloomberg said the city will assist people with collecting tax credits they were eligible for but didn't receive. The initiative is part of the Mayor's plan to combat poverty.

REPORTER: This week, the Department of Finance will mail out amended tax returns for 2003 and 2004 to 120,000 low income New Yorkers who never applied for the earned income tax credit. David Jones, of the Community Service Society, sat on the city's poverty commission.

JONES: This notion of drawing down resources that the individuals in the city are entitled to but are not drawing down I think is a great idea. It obviously doesn't break the bank of the city budget and it brings more needed resources into the city.

REPORTER: The Department of Finance estimates the tax credits will total1 $68 million, that's an average of $14,000 per household. About $5 million of that will come from the city, the rest will come from state and federal governments.