During last year’s gubernatorial debates Republican candidate John Faso called for a cap to be placed on the annual growth in property taxes. Then candidate and now governor Eliot Spitzer decried such a practice, noting, in a rather admirable old-school way, that it would force the State’s power on municipalities and school districts, eliminating local control and squashing the concept of "all politics are local."

Last week we heard that Spitzer changed his tune. In what should have been a run-of-the-mill speech to organized labor the Governor meandered a bit and went on at length about the absurdity of taxation in the New York. While doing so he did not outright call for a cap but he hinted at its importance and said state leaders need to discuss the concept in earnest.

This was the first time since the debates that the cap issue has been raised by the governor. No doubt this sudden importance was precipitated by the stark truth of reality. During a campaign it’s easy to talk about how things should be done, but when the Real World comes a calling one finds we don’t live in bubble and sound philosophy sometimes needs to be cast aside and decisions made to adjust policy to the socioeconomic environment provided.

And, what a sad environment it is that Spitzer stumbled into.

Our property taxes are fourth worst in the US and quickly reaching the worst spot. This has come about from yearly tax growth that has far outstripped – sometimes tripling and quadrupling - the rate of inflation (which is well under 3% per year). In just the six-year period of 2000 through 2005 alone property taxes grew by an almost surreal 42%. Over that same period the income of New York residents grew only by 11%. Basically, New Yorkers are living beyond their means just by the act of paying their taxes.

This continued and completely disheartening expansion of taxation has occurred despite the utilization of the School Tax Relief (STAR) program which was originally intended to be a "savior". This program was launched in 1997 to offer relief to homeowners. At first, it offered a respite to some individuals but as the years went on it seems schools and municipalities used it both as a crutch and as a means to expand their power. With STAR initially helping those who could least afford the higher taxes, the stigma of hurting the "poor" was gone and the money hungry taxing-entities trained their sights on those they believed could afford it. With the guilt gone they taxed with reckless abandon and now the financial suffering is universal in scope, showing STAR was not a tax cut as originally advertised but instead became a tax-shifter for some and a tax-multiplier for all. Spitzer’s welcomed tirade touched on this, noting that out-of-control local taxes have essentially negated any worth that STAR at one time had.

The maddened Governor is not alone in his quest to make good on past administrations’ broken promises, making STAR work and quelling the fiscal waste at all levels of government. The Republican sect of the Assembly has been begging for an annual cap that would be the lesser of two evils: either 4% or that year’s inflationary rate. By having to operate in such constraints – just like the private sector has to in order to survive – government will theoretically become more efficient.

In the end, the cap would truly protect the taxpayers’ financial interests. Being that the economy has been tight now for a half-dozen years most private sector raises are now equal to the cost of living index, so the growth in public sector demands would at most reflect the very same under such a law, creating a zero-balance effect on the taxpayers’ wallets from year-to-year.

Eliot Spitzer’s sudden change of heart towards the cap needs to become a realistic task, for he does not want to become a governor leading a charge for State-level frugality while watching the local-level politicos do otherwise. We need it. He needs it. And, that’s why he’s suddenly a fan of the cap: The majority of people who put him in power depend on such an endeavor…and so does his legacy.