The New York State Association of Realtors, the state”™s largest real estate advocacy organization, is planning to wage its biggest media campaign ever in support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo”™s 2 percent property tax cap legislation.
The launch of the media campaign was set for April 13. In addition to placing ads in major print, broadcast and online media outlets statewide, the 52,000-member group had also set up a website (taxcapNY.com) where visitors can contact state legislators to show support for the bill.
Duncan R. MacKenzie, the organization”™s CEO, said the media campaign dubbed “Cap That Tax” will initially target state legislators and will be limited to media outlets in the Albany area. It will be later expanded to news outlets from Buffalo to Montauk once state legislators go back to their respective legislative districts on break.
The 2 percent property tax cap bill has already passed the state Senate, but has yet to be voted on in the Assembly. At press time the bill was before the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.
“The Legislature has done the right thing by passing an on-time budget and tightening its belt and the next logical step is to move toward the property tax issue,” MacKenzie said. “We believe the property tax cap as proposed by the governor and passed by the Senate is the way to go.”
MacKenzie said that he believes the media campaign will be the largest ever waged by the 106-year-old organization. He did not reveal the amount of money committed to the advertising campaign, noting that the final budget for the effort has not been finalized.
NYSAR is also in favor of mandate-relief efforts that are also being advanced by the Cuomo administration and specifically the governor”™s Mandate Relief Redesign Team.
When asked about the association”™s position on the tax cap and mandate relief, MacKenzie responded, “Do we support the tax cap with or without mandate relief? Absolutely. But, we think it would be shortsighted for lawmakers to do the tax cap and not provide some measure of relief to the affected local governments and schools.”
Chief executives of two of the largest local Realtor associations in the Hudson Valley were supportive of the NYSAR ad campaign.
P. Gilbert Mercurio, CEO of the Westchester Putnam Association of Realtors in White Plains, said his group “is in full agreement with our state association that property taxes need to be brought under control. We know that a legislated tax cap is a blunt instrument, but Westchester has the critical condition of being number one in property taxes in New York state, if not the nation, and this fact calls for tough measures immediately.”
Mercurio said that real property tax relief is among his group”™s top legislative policy objectives this year. He said the group believes state lawmakers should make every effort to control local expenditures rather than seek new revenues.
“We urge our legislators to not even think about alternative revenues from the real estate sector such as new or higher transfer taxes, mortgage recording taxes and the like. Real estate could be an engine for economic recovery if governments wouldn’t keep burdening it with excessive taxation.”
Ann Garti, CEO of the Orange County Association of Realtors in Goshen, also expressed support for the NYSAR media campaign.
“I believe a property tax cap is an imperative if we are to stop the population drain in New York state,” Garti said. “The total tax burden makes it impossible for businesses to flourish and high property taxes make homes less and less affordable for the middle-class family. Businesses can”™t relocate here because their key employees refuse to move to New York state because of the high housing costs.”
The New York State Association of Realtors joined Unshackle Upstate, The Business Council of New York State Inc., the National Federation of Independent Business, and the New York Farm Bureau at a news conference in February in support of the tax cap initiative. Other organizations that joined the coalition in support of the tax cap included: the Westchester County Association, the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, Rochester Business Alliance, North Country Chamber of Commerce in Plattsburgh, Manufacturers Association of Central New York, Independent Power Producers of New York, Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce, Chamber of Schenectady County, Chautauqua County Chamber of Commerce, Cortland County Chamber of Commerce, Niagara USA Chamber, Empire State Forest Products Association and the Manufacturers Association of the Southern Tier. In addition, the Business Council of Westchester has since come out in favor of the tax cap.
Earlier this month, Cuomo said at a press conference that his top three priorities this legislation session are “ethics reform, property tax cap and rent (control).”
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has stated that the Assembly is in favor of the property tax cap, but is looking to link rent control with the measure. The state”™s rent regulations are set to expire in June.
In terms of mandate relief, state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-I/WF) of Yonkers introduced five bills and announced passage of a sixth in the Senate that are geared toward providing mandate relief and cost savings to municipalities.
One bill would allow nonprofits that provide public services to make purchases through the use of county contracts in order to reduce costs. Another bill would provide local governments and school districts greater flexibility in contracting. She has also introduced a bill that would allow contiguous county, city, town and village industrial development agencies to merge and to share services.
Rounding out her mandate relief legislative package, Stewart-Cousins has introduced a bill that would allow a local government the option to buy from a contract awarded by competitive bidding by any other local government and has proposed legislation that would allow county clerks throughout New York state to accept conveyances of real property transactions electronically. The bill passed the Senate unanimously March 22.
The senator has also introduced legislation that officially dissolves 118 public authorities and agencies in the state that are no longer in existence.
