If you're a homeowner in the Empire State and can't keep up with your property tax bill – blame the democrats in the assembly. When they had a chance on August 19th to do the right thing and provide New Yorkers with real tax relief, they tried to raise the income tax by 2.6 billion dollars instead. This is the height of irresponsibility for assembly democrats – blocking the real property tax cap from even getting to the floor of the assembly.
The tax cap would keep your property taxes from rising above 4 percent or the rate of inflation every year, whichever is lower. The growth of property taxes is out of control in New York State. In some areas, homeowners see double digit percentage increases. New Yorkers also pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation.
More taxes will not solve New York's fiscal problems. We got here partly because we tax too much and spend too much. Residents are showing their frustration with their feet. Many of them are now former New York residents who left our great state to get a better bang for their buck.
That's why we need to control spending. A tax cap would be a good start to relieve some of the pressure on homeowners. The cap is not a new concept. The Assembly Republican Conference introduced a bill called the Property Taxpayers Protection Act nearly two years ago to cap property taxes. Plus, 15 other states including Massachusetts and New Jersey have done it. Massachusetts tried it in the 1980's. The Bay State's property taxes went from some of the highest in the nation to among the lowest today. Schoolchildren did not pay the consequence. Test scores actually improved in Massachusetts.
Governor David Paterson and three state legislative leaders want to cap taxes. Most importantly, the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers are supporting a tax cap.
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and his majority are the only ones responsible for breaking the hearts of hard working New Yorkers. It's clear he's siding with the special interests instead of the people's interest.
Assemblyman James Tedisco (R,C,I-Schenectady-Saratoga) is the Leader of the Republican Conference in the NY State Assembly.
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written by Jay Golub , August 25, 2008
"More taxes will not solve New York's fiscal problems. We got here partly because we tax too much and spend too much."
Great sentiment!
And as long as we're talking about "capping" things, why not propose a cap on ALL SPENDING done in Albany?
How about limiiting State spending, other than pension obligations, to no more than 1% above the rate of inflation?
If we really want to put NY State back into the black, forcing legislators to live within thier means is the only way. We already know that Sheldon Silver will try to suck every entreprenuer dry in an effort to pay for his promises to the Teacher's and Healthcare worker's unions no matter how much those tax levies destroy NY's economy.
NY Republicans need to support GOP assembly candidates specifically to keep sentiments like these coming from Tedisco and the assembly minority...
written by Daniel Peterson , August 26, 2008
Fiscal conservatism isn't always a party line, but it should be the number one issue for republicans in this state. If Gov. Patterson sounds conservative, we should use his stature to promote our party in support. If Democrats are divided between doing A or doing B, we can increase our exposure by siding with the Democrats that sound conservative, because it is what one expects of our party.
It's great to see that our Assembly Republicans champion tax policies in line with Ronald Reagan. Gov. Pataki won the governor's seat in 1994 by sounding conservative and with the support of the Conservative Party. When our party rejects our conservative base and tries to placate a liberal agenda, we lose. We lose votes b/c conservatives don't vote for us, and our effort to added liberals to our base is futile. They just pull the lever in the "D" column. The Tax Cap will be an issue that should strengthen our party and hopefully win us a few more Senate & Assembly seats.
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