Resolution for Property Tax Reform

Call to Action: Lower Property Tax Now!

Read a summary of the Omnibus Property Tax Relief and Reform Act here

Resolution:

Legislator Susan Zimet, at the request of the Ulster County Blue Ribbon Commission on School Funding and Tax Reform (Chairwoman Zimet, Legislators Gerentine and Decker and Commission members:  Shebar, Calderone, Gajate and O’Connor-Alisse), and Legislators Noonan and Provenzano offer the following:

WHEREAS, members  of the Ulster County Blue Ribbon Commission are founding members of the Omnibus Consortium, a diverse group of state wide property tax coalitions, fiscal watchdogs, education advocates and unions, and

WHEREAS, the Omnibus Consortium has been working over 9 months to draft legislation that would reform the property tax system to provide immediate relief to overburdened homeowners through the creation of a property tax circuit breaker with the long term goal of creating a fair and equitable tax system by shifting costs from the local level to the state, and

WHEREAS, the Omnibus Property Tax Relief and Reform Act recognizes the fiscal needs of the State and balances the needs of the overburdened tax payers with these fiscal realities, and

WHEREAS, the Omnibus Property Tax Relief and Reform Act begins to solve the immediate short term problem of people being taxed out of their homes, while gradually reversing the inequities in the tax system that have built up over the last 25 years, and

WHEREAS,  since  the Circuit Breaker is phased in over several years, it will help our most overburdened taxpayers remain in their homes while still enabling  the State to achieve  tax relief savings in the upcoming budget, and

WHEREAS, long term, to fund services effectively and efficiently in this State, and

WHEREAS, to prevent future crisis we need to reduce over dependence on the local property tax, and

WHEREAS, the Omnibus Property Tax Relief and Reform Act has been introduced to the Leadership in Albany and has been included in Budget discussions, and

WHEREAS,  the State leadership has stated in the press and to members of the Omnibus Consortium that the Omnibus Middle Class Circuit breaker will be discussed this Legislative session, and

WHEREAS, the Ulster County Blue Ribbon Commission has met and reviewed said request with a majority of the members approving, and

WHEREAS, the Omnibus Property Tax Relief and Reform Act is on file with the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature and the summary of said bill is included herein as an attachment to this resolution, now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the Ulster County Legislature supports the relief and reform as proposed in the Omnibus Property Tax Relief and Reform Bill, and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the State government adopts the Omnibus Bill Tax Relief and Reform Act in its entirety, and, be it further

RESOLVED, that the Clerk of the Ulster County Legislature shall forward copies of this resolution to Governor David Paterson, New York State Comptroller’s Office, Senate Majority Leader Dean G. Skelos, Senate Minority Leader Malcolm Smith, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Assembly Majority Leader Ron Canestrari, Assembly Minority Leader James N. Tedisco, New York State Senators John J. Bonacic and William J. Larkin, Jr., New York State Assemblymen Kevin A. Cahill, Clifford W. Crouch, Peter Lopez and Frank K. Skartados and the New York State Association of Counties, the National Association of Counties and the entire New York State Legislature, so that the intent of the Ulster County legislature be widely known,and move its adoption.

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FOR MORE INFO ON LOCAL & STATE EFFORTS FOR PROP. TAX REFORM:

Carole Kraus-Leader, Property Tax Reform Task Force
info@hvpropertytaxreform.org
www.hvpropertytaxreform.org
845.687.2097

Carole is also the coordinator of NYState Property Tax Reform Coalition at
http://www.nyspropertytaxreform.org
info@nyspropertytaxreform.org