Assembly bill extends rent protections

The Assembly on Monday approved a measure extending rent protections for New York City apartment dwellers — the issue that, before the legislative session ends, will be linked to an effort to cap property tax growth upstate and on Long Island.

“They’re both about keeping people in their homes,” Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said of the property tax and rent control measures.

The Assembly has blocked the property tax effort in recent years.

This year, with a rent control law affecting 2 million downstate residents due to expire in mid-June, the Assembly is now openly talking about getting on board with the property tax ceiling.

In the GOP-led Senate, which has not passed the New York City
rent-control bill, the chamber’s top Democrat suggested there may be some wiggle room in a tax cap the 62-member Senate already approved in January.

Senate Minority Leader John Sampson, a Brooklyn Democrat, said there needs to be “a conversation” with stakeholders to determine if there is “a middle ground” on efforts to cap the taxes and start to control some state-imposed mandates that are driving up the
costs for local governments, including school districts.

There has been talk, pushed by local governments, that any tax cap deal this session expand the number of “exemptions” — possibly including the costs of some employee benefits — to the cap on annual property tax levy increases.

Also, a plan to cap the annual growth at 2 percent or the inflation rate, whichever is lower, could increase to a higher level.

A Siena College poll out Tuesday morning found 75 percent of registered voters want a 2 percent tax cap measure approved this year. Property taxes are not a major political issue in New York City, which relies on a local income tax instead of property taxes for revenue.