Center for Cost Effective Government Urges Extending Property Tax Cap Permanently

May 4th, 2015

By Steve Levy

The Center for Cost Effective Government today urged New York State lawmakers to make the 2% property tax cap permanent.

The Center is a cadre of over 200 of Long Island’s most prominent business and community leaders dedicated towards making Long Island and New York State more affordable. The Center’s Executive Director, Steve Levy, a former Suffolk County Executive and New York State Assemblyman, stated: “The tax cap has been an enormous success. As those of us who advocated for its passage had noted, it has forced governments to prioritize their spending in a way we had not seen earlier. While we have not seen property taxes decrease, at least the cap has provided some stability. Permanently extending the cap will provide a greater sense of hope and predictability for millions of property tax payers across the state.”

All but a handful of Long Island’s school districts stayed within the cap this past year. Officials note that hundreds of millions of dollars have been saved for taxpayers over the last several years due to the slower growth of budgets as a result of the cap.

Levy added, “Once we get the cap extended in perpetuity, we will need the governor and the legislature to follow through on their promise to couple the cap with meaningful mandate relief. Said Levy, “The cap helps control taxes, but is it mandate relief that will ultimately control the underlying cause of increased taxes, which is uncontrolled spending.”

Steve Levy is President of Common Sense Strategies, a political and business consulting firm. He served as Suffolk County Executive 2004-2011, and as a NYS Assemblyman