ATR has released a letter to the New York State Assembly in support of Senate Bill S1207. You can read the full letter here or below.
Dear Speaker Heastie and Members of the Assembly,
On behalf of Americans for Tax Reform and our supporters across New York, I urge you to take up and pass Senate Bill S1207, which would make the state’s property tax cap permanent.
New York’s property tax cap was first enacted in 2011. It was calculated in 2015 that residents would have paid an additional $7 billion in school taxes alone if not for the property tax cap. It has been one of the few protections New York taxpayers have enjoyed. It should be your priority to ensure it stays in place.
New Yorkers pay the highest combined tax burden in the nation, on average, 12.7 percent of their income, and they face some of the highest property taxes in the country.
Downstate property tax bills in Westchester, Rockland, and Nassau counties rank in the top 10 in the U.S. on average. Upstate is not saved from these burdens either. For example, Binghamton residents pay the highest property taxes as a percentage of home value in the nation.
The last thing individuals, families, and employers across New York can afford is for Albany to leave the door open for drastic property tax hikes.
Governor Cuomo and the Senate majority have led on this issue in a bi-partisan fashion and the Assembly has a great opportunity to join them in standing up for hard-working New Yorkers who want to build a future in the state, but can’t afford higher property taxes.
The legislature should send a clear message they won’t risk massive property tax hikes on New Yorkers by sending SB 1207 to the Governor’s desk. Moving forward, we urge you to lower those property tax burdens through unfunded mandate reform – something the Senate has taken steps on by passing legislation to stop future unfunded mandates.
ATR will be educating your constituents, and all New York taxpayers as to how lawmakers in Albany vote on important fiscal and economic matters throughout the legislative session and leading up to this November’s elections.
If you have any questions, please contact Doug Kellogg, State Projects Director, at (202) 785-0266 or [email protected].
Onward,
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform