Towards the end of 2005 the New York Senate unveiled a concept they called Rebate-NY. It was a 25-point plan that was intended to decrease property taxes and offer tax relief that amounted to $2.4 billion over a three-year period. The tax reforms called for in the plan were, for the most part, necessary and logically sound and could have resulted in long-term savings for New Yorkers.

Among the program’s selling points was what amounted to $1.9 billion in total rebates available to property owners in 2006. This rebate was achievable due to what was anticipated to be a $1.5 billion "windfall" for fiscal year 2005 – 2006.

Rebate-NY was initially quite promising, but things tend to change rather quickly in Albany. By the end of spring the plan fell apart and most of the reforms called for never surfaced and have been relegated to afterthought status. The perfect codification of this failure is the fact that any semblance of what was - by Albany’s standards - frugality that had created the massive ’05 – ’06 windfall was cast aside: The 2006 – 2007 budget was crafted to be 10% higher than last year’s.

What remained in place amidst the chaos was none other than the rebate concept. But it took on a decidedly different look. Suddenly, something that was so good became something that was very bad. Both the Senate and Assembly agreed to dispense the money, but not immediately in the spring, nor in the summer. They agreed to release the checks to property owners in October. This timing would put a decent amount of change in taxpayers’ hands just prior to the November election.

Obviously, the checks transformed into a powerful electioneering tool. It can be assumed without a doubt the legislators looked at the rebate checks as the perfect ticket to re-election because any relatively disconnected voter would be more apt to vote for the incumbent under the pretenses said incumbent was "kind" enough to "give" the voter money. The average voter would fail to see that the checks were rightfully theirs to begin with and Albany was only returning a little bit of what it had pilfered. Such misplaced logic perfectly exemplifies why every nearly New Yorker damns our high taxes yet the legislative incumbency rate remains at an astronomically high 98% statewide.

The politicians all to a man decry such assertions about their psychological antics and are adamant about this not being a reelection tactic. Yet, as they say that, certain acts prove otherwise, none more telling than the check printing fiasco.

The first batch of 200,000 rebate checks was destroyed and reprinted. This was not because of an actual error per se. It was done because the checks did not give enough kudos to the legislature for their supposed act of charity. Now they clearly indicate that they were issued at the approval of the state legislature. As if the senate and assembly mailings we’ve been receiving of late weren’t overstating the rebate enough!

Basically, the rebate check you’ll be receiving in the coming weeks will be a bittersweet endowment. You’ll welcome the money, but at the same time find yourself the victim of a mind game. With these checks Albany is attempting to gain your favor and secretly buy your vote.

It’s politicking at its finest and bribery at its worst.