Post by dgriffin on Apr 1, 2009 17:48:01 GMT -5
No property tax reform in NY budget
March 31, 2009
To the dismay of business interests, efforts to rein in the state’s property taxes are not included in the state budget plan introduced on Monday.
The budget agreement was reached by Gov. David Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) and Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith (D-Queens) over the weekend. The three said they intended to address property taxes “soon,” possibly before the current legislative session ends on June 22.
Senate Minority Leader Dean Skelos, a downstate Republican, mocked what Smith and Silver had to say on the topic.
“ ‘Don’t worry,’ Senator Smith said, ‘we’ll do something about job creation and property tax relief later.’ ‘Don’t worry,’ Speaker Silver said, ‘the Assembly might pass a circuit breaker bill.’ Maybe. If there’s money available,” Skelos said in a statement.
“Unfortunately, New Yorkers desperate for relief can’t use such halfhearted, empty promises to pay skyrocketing property taxes,” he added.
www.bizjournals.com/albany/stories/2009/03/30/daily17.html