Tax & Budget

Maximizing the Value and Use of State Assets

November 6, 2008. Testimony of James A. Parrott before the New York State Commission on State Asset Maximization. To fulfill the commission's charge to "maximize the value and use of state assets," the state should carefully consider in-house design and prevailing wage standards when setting up new projects. Also, economic development subsidies should include strict accountability standards; the state should not act as project investor without receiving in return an ownership stake for the taxpayers.

2020-11-13T14:56:16-05:00November 6th, 2008|Economic Trends & Policy, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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Testimony on MTA Financing

September 15, 2008. Testimony of James A. Parrott before the New York State Commission on MTA Financing. Albany will have to make some tough choices to align the MTA's recurring spending needs with recurring revenues. It will not be easy to do this during a downturn, but it is imperative that the State and the City put in place a phased-in approach that stabilizes MTA finances for the long term.

2012-04-17T19:48:50-04:00September 15th, 2008|State Budget, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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Bush Administration Rule Would Force Health Centers to Close

September 8, 2008. FPI and others urge Congress to block this hostile rule and provide temporary fiscal relief through Medicaid. The new rule would have wide-ranging negative impacts of the new rule; advocates ask for a one-year moratorium and for inclusion of a temporary increase to the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) in the second emergency supplemental stimulus package. Press release and letter to members of Congress.

2012-03-15T17:08:17-04:00September 8th, 2008|Press Releases, Tax & Budget|
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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, [...]

2012-04-30T22:56:44-04:00September 7th, 2008|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|
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Short Term Tax Relief and Long Term Tax Reform: An Omnibus Bill Approach

August 15, 2008. Tax reform options are receiving little attention during the current property tax debate as elected officials, the media, advocates and the general public look for ways to deliver more immediate property tax relief. In this presentation, FPI's Executive Director Frank Mauro makes the case for the Omnibus Property Tax Relief and Reform Act. He argues that immediate relief is best provided by a well-targeted property tax circuit-breaker; and that to ease the pressure on the local property tax base over the longer [...]

2012-03-15T06:54:25-04:00August 15th, 2008|City Budget, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Tax & Budget|
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Déjà Vu All Over Again – Budget Balancing in Bad Times

August 14, 2008. Raising Revenue Needs to be Part of the Solution. Group press release >> "The lessons to be learned from New York’s fiscal policy choices during the last two recessions are clear. The balanced approach to the state’s budget that was adopted in 2003 worked much better than the deep service cuts of the early 1990s which prolonged and deepened the effects of that recession on New York State," said Frank Mauro, Executive Director of the Fiscal Policy Institute.

2012-03-17T11:32:13-04:00August 14th, 2008|Blog, State Budget, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Latest IRS Data Reveal Fundamental Mismatch Between New York’s Income Distribution and Its Tax System

August 6, 2008. New data from the Internal Revenue Service bolster the case for a high-end income tax surcharge in New York. New York is one of ten states that have income distributions that particularly favor the wealthy few - while the progressivity of the state income tax has been weakened since the 1990s. With the state facing a budget deficit and political leaders seeking a way to pay for effective and immediate property tax relief, this is especially timely news. Press release with NYS [...]

2020-11-13T14:28:01-05:00August 6th, 2008|Economic Trends & Policy, Labor Market & Workforce, Press Releases, Tax & Budget, Tax Policy|
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Economists’ Statement Opposing the Lazio Tax Proposal

July 18, 2008. Over 110 economists from throughout New York state say the Lazio tax cut proposals are economically and socially irresponsible, jeopardizing Social Security and Medicare. Full statement, followed by a list of the economists endorsing it. Several weeks ago, eight Nobel laureates and over 300 other economists issued a public statement opposing the large-scale tax cuts that are the centerpiece of presidential candidate George W. Bush’s economic proposals. We, the undersigned, as economists who live and/or work in New York State, believe that [...]

2020-11-13T15:14:18-05:00July 18th, 2008|Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy, Tax & Budget|
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Siena New York Poll: Circuit Breaker & Gas Tax Cut Top Property Tax Cap

July 14, 2008. While New York voters strongly support both a property tax cap and a property tax "circuit breaker," which ensures that property taxes do not exceed a certain percentage of a homeowner's income, when forced to choose between the two, a majority prefer the circuit breaker, according to a new Siena (College) Research Institute poll a new Siena Research Institute poll released today. More voters would rather see New York eliminate 32 cents of state gas taxes than cap property tax increases. "New [...]

2012-03-06T15:15:21-05:00July 16th, 2008|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|
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Education policy experts weigh in on tax caps

July 14, 2008. A collection of materials from researchers and stakeholders, including the Council of School Superintendents and the PTA. It's Elementary, a monthly column by John Yinger, director of the Education Finance and Accountability Program and professor, Syracuse University's Maxwell School. See especially: Why a Property Tax Cap Is a Bad Idea for New York (June 2008) The Preliminary Report of the New York Commission on Property Tax Relief (May 2008) Reform in New York State's Education Aid Formula? (April 2008) Materials from the [...]

2012-03-06T19:57:49-05:00July 14th, 2008|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|
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Materials from TREND – Tax Reform Effort of Northern Dutchess

June 23, 2008.  TREND NY Poll Says New Yorkers Prefer Circuit Breaker over Cap. The Tax Reform Effort of Northern Dutchess conducted a random automated phone survey of more than 500 registered voters, and found that New Yorkers prefer a property tax circuit breaker to a property tax cap two to one. March 6, 2008. Presentations from Changing the Property Tax System in New York, a conference sponsored by TREND in Hyde Park. Property Tax Caps: What We Can Learn From Other States by Robert [...]

2012-03-06T21:58:33-05:00June 23rd, 2008|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|
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Broad-based coalition unites to oppose arbitrary property tax cap

June 10, 2008. In a joint press release, representatives of a diverse group of organizations summarized the key shortcomings of property tax caps like the proposal advanced by Gov. David Paterson. The coalition members argued that New York needs property tax relief, but that an artificial cap would harm educational programs and doom efforts to close the achievement gap. Read the release >>

2012-03-15T06:54:48-04:00June 10th, 2008|Blog, City Budget, Tax & Budget|
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Extending the State Fiscal Relief Provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

June 8, 2010. The federal government's failure to extend its increased share of state Medicaid costs would leave New York with an additional $1.06 billion in state budget cuts - on top of the cuts already on the table as part of Governor Paterson's 2010-2011 gap closing plan. In this analysis, FPI calculates that if the state decided to fill the additional $1 billion dollar gap through workforce reductions, the number of layoffs would be in the 15,000-16,000 range. Another alternative, reductions to Medicaid reimbursement [...]

2020-11-13T15:06:55-05:00June 8th, 2008|Healthcare, Reports, Briefs and Presentations, Social Policy, Tax & Budget|
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Testimony on Proposed Legislation Addressing Real Property Taxation Issues

June 2, 2008. Presented by FPI Executive Director Frank Mauro to the Senate Standing Committee on Local Government and Assembly Standing Committee on Real Property Taxation. The Middle Class STAR rebate program is better targeted than the original STAR program in that in takes income into consideration. However, Middle Class STAR is still not efficient and equitable property tax relief, since it does not take the size of a homeowner's property tax bill into consideration and it is still based on county and school district [...]

2012-03-15T06:55:12-04:00June 2nd, 2008|City Budget, Tax & Budget, Testimony|
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