Popular measure has been tough sell in previous years
The debate over a property tax cap is raging once again, after the state Senate last week overwhelmingly approved a cap that would limit local tax levies to 4 percent growth annually. Gov. David Paterson, an advocate of a cap, has vowed to call the legislature to Albany in October to put the proposal to the Assembly.
Property taxes have been a stubborn problem for New Yorkers, with tax bills in the state 79 percent above the national average.
Recent polls show that citizens are not ignorant to this fact 76 percent of New Yorkers would support a cap, according to a Siena Research Institute poll. High taxes are often cited as a contributor to thousands leaving the state every year.
A 4-percent cap is probably too high,` said Brian Sampson, executive director of Unshackle Upstate, an advocacy group. He pointed to budgets coming from schools and local governments last year, which mostly had relatively low levy increases.
`When forced to make tough decisions, they can make them,` he said.
While advocates of the cap can point to the tax burden shouldered by property owners, schools and municipalities contend a cap is merely the state passing the buck instead of fixing its own problems.
`It could be devastating and could lead to more massive cuts, especially if the state aid situation continues next year,` said Bethlehem Central School District Superintendent Michael Tebbano.
Tebbano said he understands the call for a tax cap, but a better solution would be for the state to relax its lengthy list of unpaid mandates imposed on districts.
`They require us to do more mandates in New York state for school districts than any other state,` he said.
On this point, Sampson agreed.
`There has to be a mechanism that eliminates unfunded mandates coming from the state,` he said. `It does you no good to cap things and then basically handcuff everybody.`
Similarly, local governments have seen grant funding and state services drying up in past months, which when combined with rising costs left many with fiscal problems of their own. It’s tough to find a town, city or school that didn’t have a difficult discussion about cuts this past budget year.
`I am not supportive of mandates coming from government to other areas of government,` said Bethlehem Supervisor Sam Messina, who went on to say it’s the responsibility of local governments to manage their finances, not that of the state.
`That is not best achieved by anyone imposing anything on anyone else,` he said. `To my way of thinking, the state of New York needs to look at its house and get that in order.`
Unions representing teachers and state workers can also be counted on to rail against a cap whenever it’s the topic of discussion.
For opponents of the cap, there may be some solace in the fact the legislature has been unable to pass such a measure despite it being a popular topic among voters.
Most recently, in 2008, both the Senate and Assembly passed relief measures, but neither materialized because the Senate passed a tax cap and the Assembly passed a circuit breaker law.
A `circuit breaker` works to limit the maximum amount of taxes one family could pay, based on income. New York already has a breaker in advanced STAR exemptions, but these are generally available only to the elderly.
A tax cap, on the other hand, directly limits the amount school districts can increase their budgets year-to-year, the idea being this would limit out-of-control tax hikes for taxpayers.
While today most everyone agrees something must be done, the reality is that, as in previous years, the end result may be considerably less than what was hoped for. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has voiced his opposition to the senate’s tax cap, and has said it won’t be brought to a vote in his chamber. He has said a restoration of school aid should be considered over a cap as a form of property tax relief.
In 1995, Silver introduced legislation that would hold tax levy increases to the annual rate of inflation. That `Real Property Tax Limitation Act` passed the Assembly but died in the Senate.“