Assembly, Working Families Party Push Property Tax Plan
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- May
- 19
About 30 members of the state Assembly joined the Working Families Party today to push for what is called a “circuit breaker” on local property taxes.
The plan has been on the table for several years and would tie the amount of property taxes paid by homeowners to their income.
The proposal would cap property taxes above a certain percentage of a household’s income. For example, 70 percent of property taxes owned by a homeowner over the cap would be rebated by the state.
The Working Families Party, along with Assembly Democrats, want to fund the $3.9 billion plan by raising income taxes on those who make more than $500,000 a year. The income-tax hike would bring in about $6.5 billion—enough to cover the “circuit breaker” and to help cover some of the state’s looming $20 billion deficit over the next three years.
“People are choking on property taxes around the state and at the same time we also need money to fund the crucial investments that we all depend on,” said Working Families Party Executive Director Dan Cantor.
No state senators attended the press conference (seen at left, with Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, D-Buffalo, at the podium), though Cantor said they were invited.
So it’s safe to say that Republicans in the Senate, maybe even Democrats in the Senate, oppose the idea.









