Although his proposed property tax cap will put pressure on counties, municipalities and schools to reduce their costs, Gov. Cuomo has punted the related issue of mandate relief to a "redesign team" comprised of stakeholders including representatives... Read More
States are finding it more difficult to accurately predict their revenues--and "the biggest culprit" is an increasing reliance on personal income taxes, according to a new report from the Pew Center on the States and the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute... Read More
New York’s local property tax levels are exceptionally high by national standards and have grown by more than double the inflation rate over the past decade, justifying the governor’s push to limit future growth. Read More
Governor Andrew Cuomo’s proposed cap on property taxes is justified in light of New York State’s exceptionally heavy property tax burden, according to a report released today by the Empire Center for Public Policy. Read More
A broad, tight cap on local property taxes is a central element of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s agenda for making New York State more affordable and competitive. The governor’s tax cap has passed in the state Senate with strong bipartisan support. Its fate will ultimately be decided in the state Assembly. Read More
Gov. Cuomo's proposed 2 percent property tax cap could only be overridden by a super-majority of more than 60 percent of school district voters. Would this pose an insurmountable obstacle to supporters of higher taxes, starving schools of desperately needed funding? Cap opponents such as New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) imply as much, asserting in recent Senate testimony that the 60 percent override threshold... Read More
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s broad challenge to government unions won’t be replicated in New York state anytime soon. Read More
In today's Times, Mayor Bloomberg says that state governments don't need to curtail bargaining rights for public workers' unions. Instead, states just need to bargain better -- and give localities the authority to bargain better, too -- to protect the... Read More