May 20, 2008 Irv Feiner's Community View in The
Journal News
Sens. John McCain and Barack Obama
as presidential candidates will argue about federal taxes
and most of us will be tuned in. Regrettably, in Rockland
County, where most taxpayers pay more in local and school
property taxes than in federal income taxes, there will be
no such discussion about local taxes. Not so fast.
Thankfully, state Sen. Tom Morahan and Assembly members
Ellen Jaffee and Ken Zebrowski have combined to effect a
discussion about those oppressive local taxes.
At 8 p.m. Thursday in the county
legislative chambers, our state legislative trio has
arranged for Frank Mauro, executive director of The Fiscal
Policy Institute to talk and answer questions about the
"circuit breaker" property tax legislation, sponsored by
state Sen. Betty Little, R-Queensbury, and Assemblywoman
Sandy Galef, D-Ossining. If passed and signed by the
governor, the "circuit breaker" legislation will reduce our
county, town, village and school tax bills by 20 percent to
60 percent for more than 85 percent of Rockland taxpayers.
Believe it or not, it will do exactly that.
Suppose you're a taxpayer living
in Clarkstown in a house assessed at $150,000, your federal
adjusted gross income (AGI) is $80,000, and your local taxes
(county, town and school) are $8,820. Under the Little-Galef
"circuit breaker," you would save $2,814. Your new tax bill
is $6,006, a savings of 32 percent.
Here is how we get there:
1. $80,000 X 6 percent = $4,800
2. Subtract $4,800 from the $8,820
tax bill (8,820 - 4,800) = $4,020
3. The state, instead of sending
you a Star rebate check, will send you a check for 70
percent of the $4,020 which is $2,814.
The bill has three circuit breaker
formulas, depending on income level:
- For those with Adjusted Gross
Income $120,000 or less, 6 percent of household AGI is used.
Then, real property taxes paid in excess of 6 percent of the
AGI can receive a personal income tax credit of 70 percent
of the overage.
- For those with an AGI more than
$120,00, but less than $175,000, 7 percent of household AGI
is used. The real property taxes paid in excess of 7 percent
of the AGI can receive a personal income tax credit of 70
percent of the overage.
- For those with an income more
than $175,000 but less than $250,000, an 8 percent of
household AGI is used. The real property taxes paid in
excess of 8 percent of the AGI can receive a personal income
tax credit of 70 percent of the overage.
There is no circuit breaker for
incomes over $250,000.
With the formula above you can
punch in your personal numbers and see how much you would
personally save under this bill.
I anticipate your question: Where
does the make-up of the saved taxes come from? From the
state's general fund. Where is the make-up of the Star
savings come from? What is done is to shift the burden from
the property tax to the general fund. I pray I made all this
clear. If not, your remaining questions will be answered by
Mr. Mauro on Thursday.
So, if you are interested in
reducing your property taxes, it is truly important to show
up for the forum. First, you can have any remaining
questions answered. Second, you can show our legislative
trio that there is good Rockland support for this bill. A
big crowd will encourage them to join the list of
co-sponsors to the Little-Galef bill. And it will also send
a message to the Albany leadership. And it will add
Rockland's name to other counties where this bill is gaining
momentum.
Finally, you ought to show up to
thank Sen. Morahan, Assemblywoman Jaffee and Assemblyman
Zebrowski for bringing this information to the county.
To see how this proposed law will
affect your taxes, go to
http://nyspropertytaxreform.org/news/Calculator-TM.htm
and plug in your information. (Circuit Breaker Tax Credit
Calculator)
Irv Feiner is a lifelong
political activist who resides in Nyack
