Notwithstanding the headlines generated by Gov. Eliot Spitzer’s State of the State address, it takes some creative arithmetic to call the new governor’s property tax initiative a “$6 billion tax cut.” In fact, strictly speaking, Spitzer isn’t proposing a tax cut so much as a tax shift.
For further explanation, see E.J. McMahon’s NYFiscalWatch Memo.
Details of the proposal won’t become available until the governor presents his budget on Jan. 31. Presumably, he intends to follow through on the property tax plan he first unveiled during his gubernatorial campaign last June. We’ve posted that plan here.
You may also like
Highlights of Albany’s Bloated and Belated Budget
The state Legislature approved the last of nine budget bills Thursday evening, 38 days after the start of the fiscal year. Here are some highlights of the fiscal impact of final spending plan:
Top lines
Read More
Forcing Homes to Switch to Electric Heat is not a Good Policy
New York has some of the most ambitious climate goals in the country: electric school buses by 2035, zero emissions electricity by 2040, etc. Why New Yorkers, who already consume less energy per capita than any state (other than Rhode Island), s Read More
Educators Receiving $200k+ Doubles in Five Years
The number of school district employees receiving a total compensation of more than $200,000 have more than doubled since 2019, according to posted today at , the Empire Center’s transparency website. The public educator pay data are based on Fiscal Ye Read More
After Tariff Shock, Albany Should Face its New Fiscal Reality
This year, for once, state lawmakers' failure to pass a timely budget could prove to be a stroke of luck.
When President Trump rolled out his on April 2, Albany leaders had not agreed on a spending plan for the f Read More
Median Teacher Pay Exceeds $100K in a Quarter of NY School Districts as Federal Funding Cuts Loom
A total of 186 out of 685 school districts outside New York City last year had a median classroom teacher pay over $100,000, according to , the Empire Center’s government transparency website, up from 159 five years earlier.
All eight Rockland Coun Read More
Overtime on State Payroll Surges 11%
Twenty-three New York State employees collected over $200,000 each in overtime, according to posted today on SeeThroughNY, the Empire Center’s government transparency website. Read More
What They Make 2024
A total of 522 local government employees in New York (outside New York City) were paid more than $300,000 during the 2023-24 fiscal year, more than double the previous year’s tally of 208. Th Read More
New York’s Proposed ‘MCO Tax’ Would Generate a Fraction of What Lawmakers Expected
The Hochul administration's proposed "MCO tax" would generate far less than the $4 billion in extra federal aid anticipated by state lawmakers when they approved the concept this spring, according to documents obtained by t Read More