Assembly should support tax cap
Sheldon Silver of Manhattan, leader of the state Assembly Credit: AP
Given the dire state of New York's finances, it's good news that the State Senate approved a 2 percent cap on property tax increases as proposed by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
The Senate has passed tax cap proposals before, of course, only to have them die in the Assembly. But this year may well be different.
Voter outrage over high property taxes helped propel Cuomo into office, and a recent Quinnipiac University poll found that 82 percent of voters support a property tax cap. Backing was overwhelming even among Democrats and union households.
As we've said before, caps of this kind are no panacea, and if this one succeeds it may well result in larger class sizes, service cuts and public-employee layoffs.
Unfortunately, nothing else has worked to slow the upward spiral of property taxes. Nassau County has the second-highest property taxes in the nation, after Westchester. Some upstate counties also have onerous property taxes when measured as a percentage of home value.
And even a cap won't actually cut property taxes. The cap proposed by the governor would simply limit their growth to 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. Larger increases in school taxes would still be allowed, as long as 60 percent of local voters approve.
The Senate did the right thing. Let's hope the Assembly follows suit. hN
