City Budget

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 [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:29-04:00June 24th, 2011|City Budget, Economic Outlook, Economic Trends & Policy, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|

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 >>

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:30-04:00June 22nd, 2011|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget|

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 >>

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:30-04:00June 15th, 2011|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget|

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 [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:30-04:00June 10th, 2011|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget|

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, [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:31-04:00March 1st, 2011|City Budget, Must Read, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy, Testimony|

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 [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:35-04:00May 25th, 2010|City Budget, Must Read, Tax & Budget, Testimony|

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 >>

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:35-04:00April 30th, 2010|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|

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 >>

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:40-04:00October 19th, 2009|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|

Omnibus Consortium Works to Advance Circuit Breaker and Promote Real Property Tax Reform

April 22, 2009. The Omnibus Consortium (www.omnibustaxsolution.org) joined today with Senator Liz Krueger in support of her reform bill S.4239, calling for action by end of session. Press release >>

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:42-04:00April 22nd, 2009|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|

Groups Support Governor Paterson’s Proposal to Eliminate the STAR Rebate Checks

March 27, 2009. The Omnibus Consortium (www.omnibustaxsolution.org) held a video press conference today to urge that this flawed program be replaced with a meaningful circuit breaker. Group press release >>

Fiscal Policy Institute2024-12-18T12:29:09-05:00March 27th, 2009|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|

Exploring progressive changes to New York State’s personal income tax system

March 12, 2009. This testimony, presented by FPI executive director Frank Mauro to the New York State Senate Select Committee on Budget and Tax Reform, includes a discussion of the Omnibus Tax Reform Bill. The goal of the bill: to restore fairness to taxation with both short term relief and long term solutions.

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:43-04:00March 12th, 2009|City Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy, Testimony|

New York State Commission on Property Tax Relief

December 1, 2008. An archived copy of the Commission's website (originally at "www.cptr.state.ny.us") is available through the New York State Library, including reports, fact sheets, webcasts and transcripts. Preliminary report - June 3, 2008 Final report - December 1, 2008

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:44-04:00December 1st, 2008|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget|

Opinion in the Albany Times Union

The Times Union has provided a forum for opinion pieces from various sources: September 7, 2008. A taxing solution: A tax cap forces Mass. towns to think about spending, by Richard P. Tisei, leader of the Republican minority in the Massachusetts Senate, and Bay State's Proposition 2½ not without difficulties, by Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation. July 20, 2008. A point/counterpoint pair of op eds on the proposed tax cap: Cap pressures government, not residents, to perform, by John J. Faso, [...]

Fiscal Policy Institute2025-04-04T14:27:44-04:00September 7th, 2008|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|