City Budget

Statement on Governor Cuomo’s Proposed 2014-2015 Budget

January 22, 2014. In his budget message, Governor Andrew Cuomo rightly touts his strong record of leadership in Albany. However, when it comes to the state budget, the governor’s approach is out of focus and falls far short in making the essential public investments to expand opportunities for the millions of New Yorkers in poverty or still struggling to pull away from the Great Recession of 2008-09. The question is whether the Governor’s approach to the budget is the right set of proposals for a [...]

2014-01-22T17:36:05-05:00January 22nd, 2014|City Budget, Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Statement on Governor Cuomo’s Tax Proposals

January 6, 2014. Governor Cuomo in unveiling his tax proposals today has identified a key issue in growing the state’s economy—reducing the property tax burden on New Yorkers, and we agree.  The Fiscal Policy Institute has long proposed a circuit breaker as a solution to the burden of high property taxes on moderate and lower income families and to ensure that retirees are not forced out of their homes. What the governor could have added is that creating strong, stable, middle class neighborhoods promotes a [...]

2014-01-20T13:28:12-05:00January 6th, 2014|Blog, City Budget, Tax Policy|
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Examining the Final Report of the Pataki/McCall Commission

December 20, 2013. Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo accepted the final report of the New York State Tax Relief Commission that he had appointed earlier this Fall. This commission, which was co-chaired by former Governor George Pataki and former State Comptroller H. Carl McCall, had been charged by Governor Cuomo with identifying ways to provide property and business tax relief to New York's homeowners and businesses. Today, the Fiscal Policy Institute joined with six of New York’s leading progressive groups in releasing a report analyzing [...]

2013-12-26T09:50:12-05:00December 20th, 2013|City Budget, Must Read, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Statement on the Solomon/McCall Tax Reform and Fairness Commission Report

November 14, 2013. Statement from Ron Deutsch, Executive Director, New Yorkers for Fiscal Fairness, and Frank Mauro, Executive Director, Fiscal Policy Institute. Any discussion of fair taxation in New York must acknowledge that our state has the greatest income inequality in the nation and that our tax system is partially to blame. We are experiencing record child poverty rates and levels of hunger and homelessness that are unprecedented. Too many of our residents are suffering and struggling to make ends meet and today’s report by [...]

2013-11-18T07:44:53-05:00November 14th, 2013|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Tax Reformers Urge Governor and Legislature to Take the Politics out of the Tax Debate—And Give the Public a Voice!

September 4, 2013. Statewide tax reform groups and activists from across New York State gathered at the State Capitol today to urge the Governor and the State Senate to “shed a little sunshine” on the tax reform debates that have left many New Yorkers “out in the cold.” The NYS Senate (through its Finance Committee, and its Investigations and Government Operations Committees) is holding “Invitation Only” hearings across the state to “Review Existing Tax Policy and Discuss Reform Initiatives” and the Governor’s Tax Reform and [...]

2013-09-05T08:22:32-04:00September 4th, 2013|City Budget, Press Releases, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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FPI Testimony at Senate Hearing Urges Balanced Approach to Tax Reform

September 4, 2013. In testimony before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and the Senate Committee on Investigations and Government Operations, Frank Mauro, FPI’s Executive Director, expressed support for a thorough review of the tax system from a number of perspectives.  He indicated that back in December 2011, Governor Cuomo and the legislative leaders joined in calling for a thorough review of the fairness of the New York tax system and agreed that fairness is one important basis for evaluating the workings of any tax [...]

2013-09-05T10:45:41-04:00September 4th, 2013|City Budget, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy, Testimony|
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Governor Cuomo’s Fiscal Policies: How Will New York’s Economy Be Affected?

June 24, 2011. Governor Cuomo won a great political victory in getting his 2011-2012 budget adopted on time and with very few changes. And it now looks like the Legislature will be enacting - again with very few changes - the very tight cap on property tax levies that the Governor spelled out during his 2010 campaign. This brief examines how the New York economy fared, compared to other states, under the more balanced fiscal policies of recent years. But dramatic cuts in spending can [...]

2020-11-13T14:50:33-05:00June 24th, 2011|City Budget, Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Proposed New York property tax cap is much more restrictive than the Massachusetts cap after which it is supposedly modeled

June 22, 2011. No lawmaker or taxpayer should be one bit reassured by the Massachusetts experience with a tax cap. New analysis from FPI's Frank Mauro shows what a New York-style tax cap would mean if it had been in effect in Massachusetts over the last decades. Property tax revenues would be less than half what they are today, with devastating implications for the entire array of locally-funded public services. Read report >>

2012-03-06T12:16:03-05:00June 22nd, 2011|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget|
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Proposed Cap Does Not Address New York’s Property Tax “Problem.”

June 15, 2011. A deeper look at the data used to support the proposed cap shows that New York's real tax problem is that hundreds of thousands of low, moderate and middle income families are already paying inordinate shares of their income in property taxes on their primary residences. Only a middle-class Circuit Breaker can provide effective relief for these families in a targeted and cost-efficient manner. Analysis >> and Omnibus Consortium release >>

2012-03-06T12:17:35-05:00June 15th, 2011|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget|
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Incorrect diagnosis of New York’s property tax “problem” will lead to a remedy that is likely to do more harm than good

June 10, 2011. Massachusetts' experience with Proposition 2½ does not support the claim that a cap of the type proposed by Governor Cuomo is workable let alone desirable. If a hard cap of the lesser of 2 percent or the rate of inflation, with no overrides, had been in effect in Massachusetts since 1981-82, that state's property tax revenue would be about 60 percent less than it currently is. The Governor's proposed cap would undermine the quality of the entire array of locally funded public [...]

2012-04-30T22:41:51-04:00June 10th, 2011|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget|
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Short Term Property Tax Relief and Long Term Tax Reform: An Omnibus Approach

March 1, 2011. At the public hearing on the Governor's proposed "Cap on Real Property Taxes" before the Assembly Standing Committees on Ways and Means, Education, Real Property Taxation, Local Government and Cities, Frank Mauro, FPI's executive director, explained why a cap on real property taxes would not effectively protect those most in need of property tax relief, and would exacerbate inequities in the current school finance system. In the short run, a property tax circuit breaker would provide effective and targeted relief. Over time, [...]

2012-05-09T16:25:19-04:00March 1st, 2011|City Budget, Must Read, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy, Testimony|
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New York Shouldn’t Look to Massachusetts as a Model for Property Tax Reform

May 25, 2010. With Governor Cuomo proposing a rigid cap on property taxes based on Massachusetts' Proposition 2½, this 2010 update of a landmark report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities should be must reading for New York policymakers. This report describes the problems the cap has created in Massachusetts and explains why the impact could be even more severe in New York. Among the key lessons of the Massachusetts experience: A tax cap won't make government services cost less. Claims that caps [...]

2012-07-24T12:48:48-04:00May 25th, 2010|City Budget, Must Read, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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Property Tax Relief: How Does a Circuit Breaker Work?

April 30, 2010. The New York State Property Tax Reform Coalition explains in plain language. Also see their circuit breaker calculator based on the Galef/Little reform bill. The  April 2010 issue of Land Lines, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy's quarterly magazine, has a six-page article devoted to circuit breakers and how they work to relieve property tax burden, including a full page sidebar on "New York's Effort to Provide Targeted Tax Relief." Read the article - Property Tax Relief: The Case for Circuit Breakers >>

2012-03-15T06:52:02-04:00April 30th, 2010|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|
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Property Tax Relief for New Yorkers

October 19, 2009. At a public forum hosted by Assemblyman Marcus Molinaro in Hopewell Junction, Frank Mauro of the Fiscal Policy Institute discussed the workings of New York State's current property tax system, and John Whiteley of the New York State Property Tax Reform Coalition discussed property tax relief and reform options for New York State. Watch the video >>

2012-03-06T21:11:15-05:00October 19th, 2009|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|
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