An interesting side note to the Newsday/NY1 poll question on whether to fund schools with a local income tax instead of the property tax is the fact that Eliot Spitzer is the only one of the three candidates for governor who has publicly embraced the idea, as noted in a Newsday story today, although yesterday his campaign backtracked from that position.
Spitzer endorsed gradually moving to a local income tax during a Q & A at the Nassau Council of Chambers of Commerce in East Meadow on Jan. 26. He called the property tax "a fundamentally bad tax," saying that senior citizens, for instance, see their property values rise but don't have the income to pay the ensuing tax increases. Then he was pretty definitive about thinking income taxes were a better idea:
"What we have to do over time is shift from a property tax foundation to an income tax foundation," Spitzer said. "Because then the tax at least is imposed upon the revenue people are getting. Most people agree it is more equitable."
Spitzer's statements were paraphrased in a Newsday story about the meeting the next day, and the direct quote, obtained from a recording of the meeting, did not appear. When asked about his position yesterday, an aide to Spitzer's campaign said the Newsday story in January "mischaracterized" his remarks: "Eliot has talked about the need for a more progressive tax system in the long term in this state and the need to provide immediate and direct property tax relief to those who need it most, but wasn’t explicitly taking a position in the local debate."
Nassau County Executive Thomas Suozzi, running against Spitzer for the Democratic nomination, has spoken positively about so-called progressive methods of taxation, and in 2002 said he was open to considering a limited county income tax on some residents. His positions on Medicaid and education also embrace a preference for paying for services through the state income tax rather than local property taxes.
But yesterday, and undoubtedly mindful of his experience with congestion pricing on the LIE, Suozzi said he was totally against moving to a local income tax: "I agree that property taxes are much too high but we need to reduce property taxes, not create a new or alternative tax, and that’s what my plan is." He said he didn't trust local elected officials not to use an income tax to take more money from residents.
John Faso, the Republican, put it similarly, saying through his spokeswoman that he is against replacing the property tax with the income tax because it would “simply be shifting burdens, and would likely end up being an addition to the property tax.”
Michael Rothfeld
Comments (1)
...this has been the #1 issue for the Working Famlies Party--a position Suozzi opposed when he ran for re-election as Nassau CEX in 2002. It probably got Elliot the WFP endorsement in this year's race.