Tag: Property Tax

If anyone still thinks Gov. Cuomo is serious about addressing New York’s economic woes, two ideas he rolled out this week should put a quick end to that fantasy. Read More

While Cuomo called his plan a tax cut, critics said the credit would merely shift state income taxes to help defray local property taxes. "He's shifting more of the burden to the income tax rather than changing policies" that drive up spending, said E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a nonprofit think tank that promotes free-market policies. "You're also encouraging more localities and school districts to increase taxes to the tax-cap limit and they can say to residents: 'Don't worry, you'll get it back.' " Read More

He didn't use the phrase himself, but the property tax credit unveiled yesterday by Governor Andrew Cuomo is of the type commonly known as a "circuit breaker." Like an electrical switch designed to automatically prevent a power overload, a circuit breaker tax credit is supposed to kick in when homeowners' property tax burdens overload their ability to pay. Cuomo's proposal would not represent a property tax cut but a means-tested state personal income break -- available only to some homeowners, and not available to owners of commercial, industrial or multi-family properties, which pay a hefty share of local taxes. Read More