Cuomo’s property tax cap tour stops in Irondequoit

A house is not an ATM machine for the government. That is what Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo told a crowd gathered Wednesday in front of an Irondequoit couple’s home.

Cuomo was in town as a part of a statewide tour to tout a 2 percent property tax cap and other pieces of legislation passed in the first six months of his administration.

The tax cap, which Cuomo called the “crown jewel and the most important economic piece of legislation,” forces schools and local governments to keep tax increases at a maximum of 2 percent or the rate of inflation, whichever is less. It can be overridden by 60 percent of local voters.

“If there has been a problem that has been plaguing the people of this state, it’s the property taxes,” Cuomo said from the Glenmont Drive lawn of Mike and Amanda Ostrander.

Cuomo said property tax levies in New York, the highest in the nation, grew by more than 73 percent from 1998 to 2008 — or twice the rate of inflation.

“This is a home,” he said, pointing behind him. “This is a house. It is not an ATM machine for the government. It really isn’t.”

Cuomo said property taxes have been increasing 6, 7 or 8 percent a year while the home values, incomes and savings of Monroe County residents are not going up.

“Where is the taxpayer supposed to get the money?” he asked. “Today, this madness ends.”

Cuomo said the state has tightened its belt and local governments are going to have to do the same and live within their means like families have to.

According to a Cuomo release, taxpayers in Monroe County pay among the highest property taxes in the nation with a median bill of $3,585 per household, compared to $3,755 statewide and $1,917 nationally.

There are limited exceptions to the cap, which include judgments or court orders from civil suits that exceed 5 percent of the locality’s levy and certain growth in pension costs where the system’s average rate increases by more than 2 percent from the previous year. Contributions above the 2 percent will be excluded from the limit. There is also an exception for growth in tax levies due to economic development.

Cuomo then signed a replica of the legislation passed by the Legislature near the end of the session. It was to be presented to the Ostranders, who are the parents of two young boys, one named Andrew whom Cuomo said he talked to and the two agreed they like the name. Mike Ostrander is an attorney at Woods Oviatt Gilman LLP. Amanda works at a local day care.

Cuomo was introduced by Lt. Gov. Robert J. Duffy who said it has been “an amazing” six months, noting he doesn’t think anyone has ever closed a $10 billion budget gap without a tax increase.

“Leadership matters,” Duffy said. “Gov. Cuomo has shown he is a leader. He has brought both sides together. It is amazing to see.”

Cuomo is credited with bringing in an on-time budget which closed a $10 billion deficit. Other hallmark legislation he made a priority includes marriage equality, ethics reform and mandate relief, the latter of which is still a work in progress.

Members of both major parties also appeared in the front row on the Ostrander’s lawn including Monroe County Democratic Committee Chairman Joseph D. Morelle, whose district includes Irondequoit, and fellow Democratic assemblymen Harry B. Bronson and Mark C. Johns. Among Republicans present were Sen. James S. Alesi, whose district includes Irondequoit; Sen. Joseph E. Robach and Irondequoit Town Supervisor Mary Joyce D’Aurizio.

Morelle, joking about being in charge of the nice weather that greeted Cuomo, agreed the legislative session was one of the most productive.

“At a time when people do other than what they say they’re going to do, he does exactly what he says he’s going to do,” Morelle said about Cuomo.

Alesi, whose district includes Irondequoit, joked back that the Assembly may have passed the weather, but that it was Robach and himself who carried it over in the Senate for the governor to sign with the lieutenant governor witnessing.

Alesi said the most significant thing about Cuomo’s leadership is that he has turned the state around and the future is bright because he brought back integrity and strength.

Rochester Mayor Thomas S. Richards, who did not attend, said the city supports Cuomo’s effort to limit property taxes and urges the state government to now turn its attention to the “critical task” of mandate relief. He is working with City Council to try to close a $50 million budget gap.

“The city cannot and has never tried to solve its financial challenges with significant tax increases,” Richards said. “We also applaud the governor’s commitment to the elimination of unfunded mandates that are at the root of Rochester’s financial challenges.”

Jody Siegle, executive director of the Monroe County School Boards Association, said the impact of the tax cap over time is going to create terrible problems for school districts whose costs have gone up primarily because of state mandates.

“Seeing a tax cap to control spending won’t solve the problems of the state pushing costs onto local schools,” she said. “What we need is mandate relief. The tax cap is not the solution because it doesn’t address the problem.”

Siegle, who also was not present at Cuomo’s press event, said in the last 25 to 30 years, the state has passed pages of mandates onto school districts. She said one of the big ones is the way it sets mandatory contributions that schools have to make to the state pension system.

“Another mandate that the state really needs to look at is special education,” Siegle said. “New York state has created over 200 rules and regulations for special education — over and above the federal requirements. No other state has anything like that. It is estimated that complying with the additional details of these laws costs over $2 billion a year and doesn’t lead to better programs for the students. We believe special education can be made more efficient and beneficial at the same time, but the state has to address the laws they’ve created.”

Siegle added that schools have been tightening their belts for the last three years while the state has reduced its support by more than $3.5 billion and an additional $1.2 billion this fiscal year.

She also said a tax cap is misleading for property owners in this area because the average levy of the county’s school districts each of the last four years has been 1.78 percent and that the disappearance of federal aid has them digging deeper into reserves which are also going to disappear.

“School districts have been controlling their levy increases very much in the spirit of the cap,” Siegle said. “To maintain the same level of tax increase, under 2 percent, is going to mean school districts are going to cut very very deeply into the academic programs and services for students because they wont be able to draw on their reserves to offset the reductions in state aid and the federal stimulus money will be gone.”

Siegle said throughout her 24-year career, she has been part of school board members talking to the state about new laws, explaining they would increase the costs of schools without improving education.

“Even now, when the state recognizes there are serious problems, rather than addressing them, they are blaming local school districts and local communities for the fact that taxes have gone up,” she said. “This is very frustrating to people who have been trying to get the state to improve their laws. I just hope the state Legislature and the governor are willing to seriously address mandate relief when they regroup because that’s what the state needs.”