Countdown: Property Tax Cap

Cue the ticking clock sound from the television show “24”, as today, we unveiled the “Property Tax Cap Countdown Clock” that’s counting down until Tuesday, April 1, 2008, which is New York’s fiscal deadline and when we are calling for the cap to be enacted.

The clock will remain outside my office at the State Capitol for public viewing before homeowners vote on their school budgets. It is a tangible, daily reminder that excessive property taxes are the number one issue facing New Yorkers who are caught in a “middle class squeeze” of high taxes, tolls, fuel costs and just about everything else.

The Governor should be using his bully pulpit to call for quick passage of a property tax cap, which has been enacted in 14 other states including Massachusetts and California. In an economy that may be headed toward – or is in the beginning of – a possible recession, the swift enactment of a property tax cap becomes even more urgent.

Let’s avoid a session-ending cliffhanger for millions of New York homeowners and pass a property tax cap soon to provide immediate relief.