Forty-nine school districts* were seeking to override the state's new property tax cap in yesterday's school budget votes. Of those, our review of regional media coverage suggests 30 districts* passed an override, while 19 districts voted their budgets down. Seven of the proposed overrides failed to collect even 50 percent of the vote. Read More
Governor Cuomo’s 2014-15 Executive Budget would devote more resources to initiatives described as “tax cuts” than any state budget we’ve seen in quite a few years. This in itself is an encouraging sign of the recognition that New York needs to do more to shed its reputation as a high-cost, high-tax state. Read More
For upstate homeowners, the centerpiece of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's proposed $2.2 billion tax-cut plan is a two-year "freeze" on the growth of New York's smothering property taxes. An analysis of tax rates in two local municipalities — one urban, one suburban — reveals that Capital Region homeowners' rebates could be significantly more modest than advertised. Read More
‘Building on Success” was the theme of Gov. Cuomo’s election-year budget presentation in Albany this week. But while Cuomo boasts he’s got New York headed in the right direction, the latest economic and demographic indicators suggest we still have a long way to go. Read More
Empire Center President E.J. McMahon spoke to WSHU radio in Long Island about Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address on Wednesday. Regarding Cuomo's proposed property tax plan, McMahon described it as a "so-called freeze." "It is not going to produce any significant or lasting saving for anybody," he added. Read More
Edmund J. McMahon, the president of the Empire Center for Public Policy, a conservative research group, said he remained unconvinced that the promised property tax measures would have any substantial economic impact. “These are tiny marginal temporary savings,” Mr. McMahon said. “They won’t do anything to speak of for the economy. They are meant to increase the ability of the governor and Legislature to say they reduced your property taxes.” Read More
E.J. McMahon of the Empire Center, a think tank, said the incentives were too small to greatly benefit homeowners or prod government consolidation. He estimated the maximum tax credit a Suffolk County homeowner could receive would be around $125; for Nassau County, closer to $200. Most upstate residents would get less than $100. "It's not fiscally significant," McMahon said. "I don't know how this is going to create positive impact on the economy." Read More
While several business groups praised the tax-cutting effort, some conservative and liberal groups issued warnings about the package’s value. “How do you call this meaningful?” E.J. McMahon, president of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, said of the property tax savings, which he said would be worth only about $60 for average homeowners in Erie and Niagara counties. “Are they honestly saying that giving folks in Western New York $60 a year is going to boost the upstate economy? Really?” he added. Read More