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School tax cap is Dean Skelos' suburban GOP hope

James Klurfeld

July 24, 2008

Remember that old Memorex commercial that asked whether what you were hearing was live or a taped recording?

Well, I've had a similar response to news that the spanking-new leader of the State Senate, Rockville Centre's Dean Skelos, will call his conference back to Albany this summer and pass - now hear this - Gov. David Paterson's bill to put a 4 percent cap on property taxes.

Not only that, but Paterson's proposal is a direct result of the work done by a commission headed by Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi. Talk about strange bedfellows. We now have Skelos, the highest ranking Republican in the state, allying himself not only with a Democratic governor but also with the Democratic county executive with whom he has frequently clashed.

So who's not on board? Democratic Assemb. Speaker Sheldon Silver of Manhattan, who has said he cannot support the governor's tax-cap bill unless there's a way of ensuring it doesn't hurt the quality of education in the state. No doubt Silver is sincere in his feelings about the importance of education. No doubt, too, he appreciates the unstinting support of one of the state's most powerful unions, the New York State United Teachers.

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If teachers are so powerful, why is Skelos ready to confront them on such a pivotal matter? The immediate past majority leader, Joe Bruno, was far more equivocal about the proposal.

The answer, of course, is that the Republicans have only a two-vote margin in the Senate, and November looks like a Democratic political year. Skelos must - absolutely must - shore up support for his members in the suburbs, where property taxes have been and are the dominant issue.

To survive as majority leader he must maintain the majority, and that means convincing suburban voters he and his party are fighting for them, and Democratic control of all three branches of government is not in their interest. What better way to do that than give unqualified support to a way to limit property-tax increases?

Ah, but this is Albany, and you usually have to dig a bit deeper to figure out what's really going on.

Silver said he could support a cap if it protected educational quality, but he believes the governor's bill doesn't do that. Skelos said he's bringing the Republicans back to Albany to pass the governor's bill. No negotiations.

Skelos and his Republican colleagues can campaign for their re-election this fall on a pro-tax-cap platform, knowing that in the end, Silver will kill it.

Oh, yes, what about the substance of the proposal? Is a property tax cap a worthy idea? Property taxes here on Long Island are too high and too much of a burden. In most of New York State, too. And much of that has to do with the costs of education. But the cap would lock in an already unfair system that punishes low-wealth school districts and is riddled with anomalies. How are school administrators to deal with rising heating, transportation and health-care costs without damaging the quality of education if there is a cap?

Ultimately, the vicious circle that results in some of the highest property tax rates in the nation must be broken. There is no perfect, harmless way to accomplish that. Even if a cap resulted in higher state income taxes to support education, it would be an advance. The income tax is fairer than the property tax. Others say a circuit breaker would be a better course, but the governor chose the cap as the appropriate first step. That's what's on the table now.

The pressure on Silver to deal with property taxes will be enormous, especially if the governor and majority leader are actually working together. And the major cities, where most of Silver's members reside, are exempt from the proposal.

Tape or the real thing? How does it sound to you?