The state Legislature and the governor could not agree on any way to relieve the growing property tax burden afflicting New Yorkers. The property tax is the prime funding mechanism for education in the state and already hard-pressed school districts facing skyrocketing energy costs are likely to add further pressure to property taxpayers.
Governor Paterson proposed a four percent property tax cap, but despite polls showing nearly three-quarters of state residents approve of the idea, no relief was enacted.
The tax cap concept arose from a study headed by Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi that discussed various ways to ease the state’s property tax burden, which is 79 percent above the national average. But the prime idea was to cap the annual growth in school taxes at 4 percent or 120 percent of the consumer price index, whichever is less.
The plan also has provisions for voters to override the cap and for districts to bank unused increases.
Much of the opposition has come from New York State United Teachers, the statewide teachers’ union, whose half-million-plus members and campaign contributions have clout in the state Senate and Assembly. NYSUT members argue a cap would hurt poor school districts and set up an unreliable funding stream tied to fluctuations in the state economy.
They called for consolidations of redundant services.
Some legislators in the Assembly and the Senate have proposed measures to end property tax as a method for funding education, with some calls to tie the income tax into education funding. Though bills for such measures have been introduced in both chambers, none has yet been seriously considered.
Governor Paterson has indicated that he may call a special session to wrestle with the property tax problem and other issues left unresolved this session.
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