Please Make Your Voices Heard on Property Tax Reform

Submitted by joyce.mitchell1 on Fri, 05/08/2009 - 8:55pm

This message is from Victor Tiship.

 

Please make your voices heard on vital property tax REFORM, not relief, in New York! The State Legislature is gauging public support for a number of proposals on this issue at this site:  Please forward to your NY networks.

 
 
I have been a proponent of true property tax reform for many years. I have and continue to be a supporter of Kevin Cahill’s reform bill, the Equity in Education Act AO6009. His bill takes 5 years to be fully implemented. Many of us need property tax reform now and cannot wait for 3 or 5 years. The Krueger Circuit Breaker aims to bring some measure of relief to property owners right away, but it is not the complete answer IMO. The numerous benefits the Cahill Bill offers are the real deal and offers a complete package of reform. Cahill eliminates residential property taxes in full to fund education within NYS and shifts that burden to INCOME. It guarantees every child in NY a full quality education, even if they come from a “poor” district. It calls for a return to pre 1972 true progressive income tax brackets so the rich will once again have to pay their fair share and those of modest means do not have to pay so much of their income as the essentially flat tax we have had since 1972 requires. I believe that our vital small farmers and farmland would not be given over to “developers” if property taxes did not force it onto the market; that goes for “vacant” residential land too. Cahill has many advantages and will bring real reform to NY and help save many of our fellow citizens from choosing between moving out or staying and continue to pay an unfair and onerous percentage of their income to fund education, while some corporations and rich evade their responsibilities to our society.
 
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=A06009  Find the Cahill Equity in Education Act here.
 
 
 
The Krueger circuit breaker bill offered in the senate, S4239, and supported by the Omnibus Consortium and Frank Mauro of the Fiscal Policy Institute, promises quick relief for at-risk homeowners, and should be supported, but does not offer the long term advantages of Cahill, IMO. I can see the two being passed together, with the Krueger bill bringing quick relief to many in need, while the Cahill bill is being phased in over the requisite 5 years. The two passed and running concurrently, could, if the political will and integrity in Albany existed, bring the critical REFORM our state needs NOW, especially in this “economic downturn”. They need a stout hickory sapling lashed to their spines, and your voice along with that of our neighbors and friends might help accomplish that.
 
http://assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?bn=S04239   Krueger circuit breaker bill here.