State senators balk at tax cap
ALBANY — Eighteen state senators from both sides of the aisle don't want their chamber to support a proposal to cap property tax payments on state- owned land to local governments and school districts.
In a Thursday letter to Senate Majority Leader Malcolm A. Smith, D-Queens, the senators expressed their opposition to a proposal contained in Gov. David A. Paterson's executive budget for the coming fiscal year.
"This proposal would set two tax rates in every municipality with state forest land: One for the state and one for private citizens," said Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, in a press release. "If property owners unilaterally decided not to pay taxes above what they paid last year, they would lose their property in a foreclosure proceeding. Particularly in a time of economic stress, the state must not shift the burden to local government and must continue to pay its fair share."
Since 1886, when the Adirondack and Catskill parks were created, the state has paid property taxes on land it owns within forest preserves across the state — not just in the two parks.
In his executive budget proposal for 2009-10, Gov. Paterson has proposed amending section 544 of the state's Real Property Tax Law to permanently cap state tax payments on state lands at 2007 levels.
That year, the state paid more than $170 million in property taxes to municipalities, counties, and school and special districts.
In some rural towns, particularly in remote Adirondack regions, state-owned land can comprise 70 percent or more of a town's land base. But because these state forest preserve lands cannot be developed, local governments and schools are highly reliant on the state's property tax payments in order to maintain fiscal solvency.
For the current fiscal year, Jefferson County will receive almost $236,000 in state tax payments, while Lewis County will get more than $2.31 million and St. Lawrence County will get almost $5.64 million.
In their letter, the senators also cited the Dillenburg v. New York court case. In October, four appellate division judges in Rochester ruled unanimously that New York had legally waived its sovereign immunity with respect to being taxed by municipalities, thus overturning a challenge to the legality of state property tax payments.
In addition to Mr. Aubertine, letter signatories were John J. Bonacic, R-Delaware/Sullivan; Neil D. Breslin, D-Albany; Pedro Espada Jr., D-Bronx; Hugh T. Farley, R-Schenectady; Craig M. Johnson, D-Port Washington; William J. Larkin Jr., R-Orange/Ulster; Elizabeth O'C. Little, R-Queensbury; Velmanette Montgomery, D-Brooklyn; Thomas P. Morahan, R-Rockland; Suzi Oppenheimer, D-Westchester; William Perkins, D-Harlem; John L. Sampson, D-Brooklyn; Diane J. Savino, D-Staten Island/Brooklyn; James L. Seward, R-Milford; William T. Stachowski, D-Buffalo; Andrea Stewart-Cousins, D-Yonkers; and David J. Valesky, D-Oneida.
"Everyone understands the financial difficulties we face as a state, but capping state payments on these lands would directly shift the state's financial difficulties on local governments," Mr. Aubertine said.
