Increased STAR tax cuts top 2007 state budget priorities
JAMES P. HAYES New York State Assembly
New Yorkers continue to pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation. Property taxes in New York have gone up more than 60 percent in the past 10 years and are 28 percent higher than the national average.

Our "highest-in-the-nation" property tax status is the main reason why Western New York continues to lose jobs and population to other less taxing states.

Given that sad reality, Gov. Eliot Spitzer's first budget proposal released at the state capitol last week contains a welcome proposal that would dramatically expand the STAR property tax cut program for homeowners and seniors in our community.

I have long been a champion of the STAR program to help ease the burden of the high school taxes we pay here in Amherst, and I was a big proponent of the STAR property tax rebate checks approved by the state Legislature last year.

This year, Gov. Spitzer is proposing a huge expansion of the successful STAR program. It's a solid proposal and deserves a close look as a top priority in budget negotiations this year.

Currently, the average STAR tax savings in Erie County is $526 per year. Under the governor's proposal, middle class homeowners with an adjusted gross income of $60,000 or less would see their STAR tax savings rise to $947 - an increase of 80 percent over this year's levels.

Higher income homeowners would also see an increase in their STAR benefit, although the increases will be less as incomes go up along a sliding scale.

Even with the sliding income scale, top of the scale earners who make up to $235,000 would still see a 30 percent increased property tax cut. Seniors will also see dramatic increases in their STAR tax cut, and the recently enacted Senior STAR cost-of-living adjustment will be made permanent.

Because the property tax burden falls most heavily on middle class homeowners and seniors on a fixed income, there is much merit in the governor's plan.

Cutting the underlying costs that are the cause of high property tax bills (including our highest in the nation Medicaid spending and unfunded Albany mandates) must also be implemented to help grow the Western New York economy.

This year's process has just begun and although this STAR proposal is a solid step in the right direction, no governor's proposal is ever automatically approved by the Legislature.

There will be many opportunities for public input and negotiations leading up to the adoption of a final budget for fiscal year 2007-08 by the April 1 deadline.

During the next four weeks, in my capacity as the ranking member of the Ways & Means Committee, I will be leading a series of bipartisan public hearings in Albany on this STAR proposal and every other area of the governor's budget proposal.

I welcome your thoughts and ideas about this year's budget process and would be happy to hear from you. E-mail hayesj@assembly.state.ny.us or call my office in Amherst at 634-1895.