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Cuomo’s claim on property taxes omits mandates

In 2015, the state capped the local Medicaid share, saving local governments more than $3 billion per year. "Even with the freeze, Medicaid remains one of the largest expenses faced by local governments in New York—and one they have little or no means to control," wrote Bill Hammond, director of health policy at the Empire Center for Public Policy, which is fiscally conservative.  Read More

Flanagan criticizes Senate Democrats on taxes

E.J. McMahon, of the right-leaning Empire Center for Public Policy, said the tax cap is a "wonderful thing" but it is not a tax cut. He looked over the list the Senate Democrats provided of credits, exemptions and reductions, and said they aren’t what most people would consider a tax cut.  Read More

Editorial: State budgeters keep it real

Taxpayers can chalk up a victory thanks to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s successful effort to make the property tax cap permanent. The 2011 law, which could have expired in mid-2020, limits the annual growth in property tax levies to 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. The fiscally conservative Empire Center says the 8-year-old law has saved New Yorkers billions of dollars in tax payments. Read More

Marchione offers bill to tweak tax cap

Since the cap began, a number of bills have been introduced with the aim of easing or breaking the cap — but none have gained traction. This year, there are at least 17 such measures. "Most have come up before," said Tim Hoefer, executive director of the Empire Center. The fiscally conservative government watchdog group supports keeping the current cap as is, saying it has helped get a handle on New York's highest-in-the-nation property taxes and school costs. Read More

Municipal tax cap will be less than 1 percent

"This is nothing but good news for taxpayers. The cap is based on the sensible notion that the price of government shouldn't rise any faster than prices in general," E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center said in an email. Read More

School-budget recap: Low turnout, more overrides

The school-budget votes this year included more property-tax-cap overrides and a drop in voter turnout, a report from a school group showed. Read More

5 NY rebates offset pain in the wallet

“STAR was the first in a line of many gimmicks to address high property taxes without addressing the reasons for the high property taxes,” said Ken Girardin, spokesman for the Empire Center for Public Policy, a fiscally conservative think tank in Albany. “The (tax relief) checks are a calculated effort to distract from the hard choices the state Legislature won’t make.” Read More

Editorial: Pending tax break has its downside

Before area taxpayers and their counterparts statewide get too excited over the looming lower property tax hike for next year, they need to be mindful of the other side of the coin. Read More