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
Tag: Mandate Relief
E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, criticized the various rebate programs, saying they mask the root cause of New York’s high taxes. He said the state needs to reform laws and lessen mandated costs on local governments to drive lower taxes. “This is what happens when the state gets involved in redistributing money in the name of property-tax relief,” he said. Read More
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday promoted his plan in which many Long Island homeowners would see an average annual savings of $1,186 over four years by using state funds to subsidize high local property taxes, state officials said. Read More
There’s a key component missing from Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plan to “cut” property taxes: It doesn’t cut them at all. Read More
The ink was barely dry on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s local government “restructuring” bill yesterday when the governor made two more concessions to unions on the issue of binding arbitration. Read More
Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner has drawn attention for a New York Times op-ed criticizing Governor Cuomo’s failure to deliver meaningful mandate relief to troubled localities. The mayor, who is also co-chair of the state Democratic Committee, challenged Cuomo to “use his substantial, hard-earned political capital to convene the Legislature, the state comptroller, and union and business leaders for an honest conversation about the multiple fiscal pressures confronting our cities.” Read More
Asked what the state might do to help fiscally distressed upstate cities, Governor Cuomo today said his administration was “looking at various approaches to help cities more on an individual basis than on a collective basis.” Read More
Reportedly, the terms of a tentative agreement between the teachers' union and board of education in Westchester's Bedford Central School District would do away with step increases for newly hired teachers. Read More