As an elected official and legislative leader I have always pushed for measures that create jobs, promote growth, and enhance our quality of life. New York state is home to one of the worst tax climates in the nation, and our families and business have paid too much for too long. The Assembly Minority Conference has a longstanding commitment to advance proposals that put more money into the pockets of New Yorkers, and finally, other state officials appear to be getting on board.

Commission report doesn’t go far enough

The governor formed the New York State Tax Relief Commission to develop recommendations to fix the state’s oppressive, high-tax environment. The commission released its report recently, and offered some common-sense ideas including freezing property taxes, and accelerating the elimination of the state’s “Energy Tax.” But the commission could have done much more. I recently offered a list of tax-cutting measures that were developed in the Assembly Minority Conference and hold the key to a more prosperous, economically viable New York. My recommendations to the commission include legislation to:

• immediately end the state’s temporary energy-tax assessment on utilities, which is directly passed on to consumers;
• make permanent the middle-class income tax cut;
• enact “Shop-NY,” which eliminates state sales tax on items such as gasoline, car seats, bike helmets, hygiene products, and other family necessities;
• end the corporate franchise tax and personal income tax for all manufacturers; and
• provide tax credits for New Yorkers paying college tuition and student loans through “Retain NY.”

Albany’s spending and mandates need to be addressed

The measures proposed in the Tax Relief Commission report are only a step in the right direction. Recommendations are nice, but results are better. We need additional tax-cutting measures and we need to address the root problems that weren’t mentioned by the Tax Relief Commission: out-of-control government spending and costly unfunded mandates.

Any discussion about reducing property taxes needs to incorporate mandate relief. When Albany forces municipalities to implement a new policy or enforce a new regulation, it comes at a cost and places a financial burden on the local government. And as the cost of running local governments increase, so do property taxes.

In other words, when Albany sends a bill to localities in the form of a mandate, property owners end up paying the check. The more mandates local governments face, the more money homeowners will be asked to pay in taxes. I have proposed an end to Albany’s unfunded mandates, and hope that combined with sweeping tax-relief measures our hardworking families and businesses will have a foundation for future prosperity. My mandate-relief proposals include the following.

·      Taxpayer Protection and Mandate Relief Act: caps state spending and freezes the local share of Medicaid costs;

·      New York State Mandate Relief for School Districts Act: provides comprehensive mandate relief for school districts, ensures the retention of quality teachers, and the best utilization of resources; and

·      Unfunded Mandate Moratorium: enacts a permanent moratorium on unfunded state mandates imposed on local governments and school districts costing more than $10,000 annually or $1 million statewide.

Brian M. Kolb (R,I,C–Canandaigua) is the New York Assembly Minority Leader and represents the 131st Assembly District, which encompasses all of Ontario County and parts of Seneca County. Contact him at kolbb@assembly.state.ny.us

The Tax Relief Commission issued its final report in December. The commission was established by Governor Cuomo and was charged with providing recommendations to cut $2 billion in state taxes over three years. Included in its final report were property-tax relief recommendations that the governor will consider.

Three property-tax relief recommendations were outlined. They include a property-tax freeze, a circuit breaker, and a tax credit for manufacturers. The commission recommends freezing residential property taxes for two years, but only for jurisdictions that are within the property-tax cap; property-tax relief will only continue into a second year if the local government adopts reforms that reduce costs — such as sharing services or consolidating.

The circuit breaker would establish a personal income-tax credit for taxpayers whose real property taxes exceeds a certain percentage of their household gross income. Manufacturers would receive a tax credit and specifically, upstate manufacturers would benefit.    

While I’m pleased to see this conversation taking place, I’m disappointed by the lack of recommended budget cuts or long-term cost-savings measures included for localities or school districts. The reason we have such high taxes is New York has a spending problem. For example, last year we spent 42 percent of our total budget on Medicaid, yet we continue to offer several coverage options within the framework of Medicaid that other states do not offer, such as dental care. Medicaid costs are only expected to grow because last year, the state predicted 400,000 additional people would qualify for Medicaid due to changes caused by Obamacare — the giant federal mandate that requires people purchase health insurance. In fact, according to news articles published recently, the vast majority of those enrolling in Obamacare policies nationally actually signed up for Medicaid.

The latest Tax Relief Commission report contains only temporary fixes and does not fully consider that the state needs to cut spending. Tax freezes, tax credits, and tax rebates are temporarily helpful but we need more permanent fixes — ones that will reduce the property-tax load for New Yorkers for years to come. We also need to stop passing state mandates onto localities. I sponsor legislation that would prohibit new unfunded mandates from passing the state legislature (A.1570).

 Also, the report encourages consolidation, but we’ve budgeted for consolidation and shared services in the past. This year’s state budget provided $79 million in grants for local governments to fully explore and utilize shared services and consolidations. Those resources have been largely underused and many times, the voting public rejects consolidations. We need to provide more direct tax relief to small businesses, but this latest list does not make recommendations for small-business tax relief either.

William (Will) A. Barclay is the Republican representative of the 120th New York Assembly District, which encompasses most of Oswego County, including the cities of Oswego and Fulton, as well as the town of Lysander in Onondaga County and town of Ellisburg in Jefferson County. Contact him at barclaw@assembly.state.ny.us, or (315) 598-5185.