State Senator John J. Bonacic (R/I/C - Mount Hope) voted in favor of the Senate Majority’s Property Tax Relief Measure. The bill significantly expands the property tax rebate program to provide $2.6 billion in relief this year and $3.4 billion in 2008.
"This measure is much larger than last year’s rebate and puts relief directly into the hands of hardworking New Yorkers," stated Senator Bonacic.
Senator Bonacic said that the Senate has been in the forefront of enacting comprehensive real property tax reform legislation, such as the measure which will end the reliance on property tax homeowners pay for the operations of the schools in their district. However, the Assembly has failed to address this critical problem.
"While this is a step in the right direction, comprehensive reform must encompass several areas in which we rely on the property tax," continued Senator Bonacic. "This is a complicated issue and it is only fitting that this measure also includes a provision to establish a Blue Ribbon Commission. The object of which is to get everyone involved to study alternatives to the property tax."
The major provisions of the Senate’s relief plan include:
Providing direct rebates to homeowners averaging $525 for non-seniors and $900 for
seniors;
Providing voters with a mechanism to limit the growth in the local school and municipal
tax rates;
Establishing a Blue Ribbon Commission to examine and make recommendations onreforms for local governments and school systems in order to reduce the property tax burden.
"Anything that sends money back to overtaxed homeowners is a positive thing. But it is equally positive to begin the serious dialogue necessary to provide taxpayers with genuine reform and relief," concluded Senator Bonacic.
