About the Coalition

The coalition is a broad-based group of individuals, businesses and associations committed to seeing a real property tax cap enacted in New York.

New York’s local taxes are the highest in America, 79% above the national average. School property taxes are the biggest part of that huge tax bill that New York homeowners and businesses face. These taxes are driving people from their homes and killing our economy. In this decade school taxes have been growing at twice the rate of inflation and much faster than the growth in personal income. This is an unsustainable situation.

Governor David Paterson has put forward a real reform plan calling for a cap on the school property tax levy. His proposal is based on the recommendations of the Commission on Property Tax Relief which listened to New Yorkers across the state in a series of hearings and issued a report calling for the cap. But, the tax cap plan faces harsh opposition from powerful special interests in Albany who benefit from the status quo.

Is the cap a cure-all for our property tax crisis? No. But it is a vital first step. Without the fiscal discipline imposed by a cap other needed reforms, including circuit-breaker relief for some New Yorkers, mandate relief and more efficient use of tax dollars in our schools will never happen.

We need only look to our neighbor Massachusetts to see how effective a cap can be. In 1980, the Bay State enacted a tax cap. At the time their property tax burden was second only to New York. Now that tax burden ranks in the middle of the pack nationally.

Did disaster strike Massachusetts public education? No, in fact Massachusetts schoolchildren lead the nation in several benchmark standardized tests and consistently outperform New York students.

The first step in controlling our property tax burden is enacting the cap. Polls show the overwhelming majority of New Yorkers support the idea. But, powerful special interests will be able to block it if people don’t organize and voice their support.

Please sign on to the NY Property Tax Cap Coalition.

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