After coming off a successful 2011 session that featured the
passage of a property tax cap, ethics reform and same sex marriage, though, public opinion is starting to slowly turnaround.
Before the week is out, the Legislature is expected to vote on a so - called «Big - Ugly» package of legislation that includes
extension of the property tax cap and rent control, aid to private schools, property tax rebates and a one - year extension of mayoral control of New York City schools — all priorities that were well known back in January and could have been accomplished by April 1st.
«We are living under the
constraint of the property tax cap upstate, you don't have that constraint,» said Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Catharine Young (R - Olean).
The districts say they need additional revenue
because of property tax caps instilled in 2008 and the updated school funding formula passed during the 2015 General Assembly.
New York State AFL - CIO President Denis Hughes and presidents of the leading public employee unions will hold a news conference to discuss
implications of property tax cap legislation on public employees, vital public services and all New Yorkers.
Among the supporters
of the property tax cap in the 2015 poll were 72 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of self - identified liberals.
De Blasio said he was fundamentally opposed to the
idea of a property tax cap and characterized the idea as «dangerous» for New York City.»
Sen. Thomas Libous, R - Binghamton, said he was on board with the Assembly's version
of the property tax cap for the most part, but still had questions over how the measure would work with gas drilling in the southern tier.
«Comptroller DiNapoli supports Attorney General Cuomo's tax cap proposal and he strongly believes that an expanded «circuit breaker» must be an integral
part of any property tax cap plan.
Tedisco was the first
author of the Property Tax Cap, which put a lid on out of control tax hikes and has saved taxpayers $ 15.3 billion statewide and residents of the 49th State Senate District $ 344.5 million since its implementation.
Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney and Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks will be attending and other County Executives from across the State will participate via conference call meeting, which will focus on the
implementation of the property tax cap, and the State's recently created Mandate Relief Council.
And I think the message that he's talking about
again of property tax cap, lowering taxes, ethics reform, are things that we agree with, especially our challengers.»
For the most part, Paladino sought to tamp down his «Crazy Carl» rep and focused on issues such as slashing state spending and the
perils of a property tax cap.
Another dynamic at work in the sudden vigor with which lawmakers have begun discussing the
potential of a property tax cap is the plight of real estate developers, who have found themselves bereft after the expiration of the 421 - a program, a lucrative tax break designed to help spur development.
She says the business lobby gave high grades for the
adoption of a property tax cap, a new pension tier for public workers, and two years of austere state budgets.
He panicked on taking a clear position on hydrofracking after protesters galvanized; he abandoned his promise to bring real mandate relief to counties and municipalities as part
B of the property tax cap; and his legislative agenda got secretive and sloppy to avoid scrutiny, even after he had promised transparent government.
Unshackle Upstate also ranked lawmakers on whether they back cutting government red tape and reducing regulations, and continued
support of the property tax cap, which Biryla says is working.
Martins noted his vote to roll back the controversial MTA payroll tax, his
backing of the property tax cap, and that he's pressed for increased economic development.
This year, three school districts that have all taken deep cuts in their revenues because
of property tax caps added to the state's constitution in 2010 — Franklin Township, Mt. Vernon Community Schools and MSD Wayne Township — petitioned the board this year.
This year, the first in his second term, he achieved a four - year
extension of the property tax cap that he championed, along with four more years of rent regulations.
To add to that, the teachers union is feuding with Governor Andrew Cuomo, and school boards are worried about the
implications of a property tax cap that's been extended for another four years.
The measure, colloquially known as «the big ugly», contains a four year extension of the rent regulations, and a corresponding
continuation of a property tax cap, as well as new rebate checks sent to homeowners just before Election Day 2016.
Ellis says when the
idea of a property tax cap was first making its way through the legislature, even the most anti-tax lawmakers were leery of it.
Ritchie says the state is in better shape now than two years ago, and that's in part because of her efforts to work with Governor Andrew Cuomo to pass an on - time budget, and
because of the property tax cap.
In a release announcing her re-election campaign, Serino touted her efforts for increase school aid and an end to the gap elimination adjustment as well as an extension
of the property tax cap.
He approved of the inclusion of most of de Blasio's legislative proposals for the extension of the 421 - a construction program for affordable housing, along with the extension
of the property tax cap and the property tax rebate program.