CORRECTING NY’S PROPERTY TAX PROBLEM 
By Bob Confer

The Empire State has this ugly stigma it just can’t seem to escape. New Yorkers and non-residents alike speak of incredibly high property taxes that force people from our borders and prevent businesses from setting up shop here. It’s a sad situation. Were this an unfounded rumor you could turn the other cheek. But, unfortunately, as we know all too well, such tax talk is truthful and the inescapable stigma is based wholly in fact.

According to 2002 data, the property tax per capita in New York is $1,402. That ranks us fifth in the nation and 44% above the national average. This is a comically large number that seems to grow almost exponentially. In the period from 1997 through 2002 property taxes increased by a stunning 19.6 percent. One shudders to think of what this growth rate may have been over the past three years of fiscal unrest that have been exemplified by Erie County’s collapse.

What cannot be readily ascertained from such data is the unfairness of having property taxes as the primary revenue stream in our state. We property holders in Upstate New York suffer much more than the citizens of the New York City area. Their property holdings are minimal compared to ours as a great deal of that area’s population resides in apartments or small properties. So, in essence, we upstate residents who own farms, hunting camps, and comfortable lawns are footing the bill for not only the government services bequeathed to us but also to those being given to the Big Apple’s citizens, who represent a disproportionate percentage of our state’s population.  This is truly unfair.

Recognizing this burden that property taxes have placed upon the upstate population and the fact that it is a bad selling point to those interested in coming to our state, the State Senate has proposed a plan to add some relief to the situation. Two weeks ago the Senate’s Republican majority introduced Rebate-NY, a well-intentioned 25-point plan that would result in $2.4 billion dollars of savings over a three-year period.

There are many things to like about what is being offered by Rebate-NY. Thanks to a $1.5 billion windfall anticipated for the close of this fiscal year, Majority Leader Joe Bruno feels comfortable dishing out a $1.9 billion rebate to property owners as an extension of the current STAR program. Furthermore, seniors would receive yet another adjustment on their STAR exemption, giving much-needed relief to these fiscally-strapped individuals. The state’s “circuit breaker” tax credit would also get a facelift, allowing over 160,000 senior homeowners to receive the program’s maximum credit. And, in an act of much deserved honor to those who risk their lives for us, the proposal also gives tax credits to volunteer firefighters.  

The Rebate-NY plan is much more than just numbers and rebates…it’s a program that can work. In an effort to prevent a virtual “reverse unfunded-state-mandate”, the Senate has included within the proposal a series of key endeavors that would justify the rebates and ensure some permanency to the tax cuts. The powers-that-be have called for much needed governmental reform that would include vast consolidation of municipal services, consolidation of school districts, superintendent sharing, and proposed legislation that would limit tricky school districts to only one budget vote per year. These initiatives and more bode well for suppressing the reckless and unabated spending so common to the Empire State bureaucracy.

It is quite evident that the Senate has put some serious thought into Rebate-NY. They have proved that it is not based on smoke and mirrors and is definitely achievable through sound actions. Whether the Assembly agrees and pushes this proposal to reality is another story. The Assembly is Democratic-led and due to strong party ties and allegiance to its Speaker - Manhattan’s Sheldon Silver -  it has a tendency to side with the downstate faction, meaning that this glorious plan may never come to fruition. So, once again, Upstate New York may take a backseat to the gluttony of the Big City.

Let us hope such an assessment is wrong and the Assembly can look past party politics and geographical divisions. If they can do so, we taxpayers will see some much needed relief very soon and, maybe one day, New York State can shelve the overtaxed stigma that’s been holding back progress for years.