New York’s homeowners can’t be blamed for wanting relief from today’s heart-stopping property-tax bills. But a new call to cap property taxes for schools is an election-year gimmick that will do far more damage than good. Gov. David Paterson, who endorsed the idea on Tuesday, should take a deep breath and then call for a broader look at ways to make taxes fairer and the state’s contributions to schools more equitable.
The proposal would allow local property taxes for schools — usually about 60 percent of the bill — to increase at no more than 4 percent each year outside of the cities. To go over that cap, at least 55 percent of local voters would have to approve it. But as communities in California and Massachusetts have learned the hard way, a tax cap is a dangerously blunt instrument.
California’s schools have been forced to slash vital services. In Massachusetts, the state has tried to make up the difference by increasing its school budget by more than 8 percent after inflation, a leap that New York is unlikely to be able to maintain.
The property-tax cap is the headline proposal from a commission on tax relief led by the Nassau County executive, Thomas Suozzi. It is as if the group decided to fix only one gear in the state’s very complicated tax apparatus. The proposal would not give any relief to property owners or even renters in urban areas of the state. Instead, if the state decides to pour more money into suddenly cash-starved nonurban school districts, the cap could well result in added burdens in the cities.
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