State has done nothing to curb taxes

Dear Editor,

I’m a New Yorker, and this state has done nothing to curb the true cost of the taxes we pay via Income or Property. New York Income tax is only one of many taxes assessed, especially if you own a business or are self-employed, yet all are used to support a state budget that is currently on track to spend $5,000 a second in 2017 and 2018 (www.empirecenter.org) for an inept progressive state agenda. 

Currently there is much hype coming out of Albany about Federal Tax Reform. Those having a hissy fit in Albany and where the rubber meets the road in the proposed Federal Tax Reform should instead be discussing the excessive New York Property Taxes paid which is proposed to be a deductible item removed from IRS-Sch.-A for those who itemize their Federal Taxes.  

No, it isn’t fair for us in New York, but it’s not fair either for those living in any of the other 47 more tax friendly states to have to subsidize New York. The tax friendly states have opted to use more conservative and fiscally sound practices and as a result of having much lower to zero property taxes, the majority of those tax payers eligible to use this deduction have never met the threshold for filing a deduction for the allowed IRS Federal Property Tax Adjustment due to the 2 percent cap of IRS – AGI yet are paying the same federal tax rates on their income. 

The fact is our state retains 15 percent tax revenue credit from this one line item. Other than personal and business tax income revenue, Albany has created separate taxing authorities to generate “other” revenue of which the accounting practices give pause to the word – “backdoor banking”.  

Governor Cuomo beats the drum on consolidation of local government functions and services and holds every other state government budget to an accountable 2 percent tax cap, yet fails to meet his own standards in budgeting, consolidating and removal of redundancy in agencies while local government budgets are habitually given unfunded enacted mandates of regulations and compliance laws that draw upon the local property tax revenue of the local taxing agency of school systems, county, city, town and village governments to balance their budgets with property tax rate increases or face the facts of doing more with less, which has become the norm.  

New York is considered a progressive state in politics and spending, second only to California and tied with Illinois coming up fast in competition to see which can be the best at doing the worse job of governing and accountability.  

As a Federal Taxpayer, I hope the Tax reforms go forward. As a State Taxpayer, I’ll rejoice in seeing Albany legislatures wring their hands and shake their fists at those who would uphold sound financial practices and tax revenue expenditures. Our governor has noted we in New York can do anything, but at whose expense?

Gov. Cuomo has justified every losing progressive program from Up Start NY, to the Buffalo build it and they will come projects. Those whom he has placed into positions and has supported are either in jail, on their way to jail, or under investigation to be put in jail.  

At the local level we are losing tax paying residents, homeowners and renters, both working and retired, to those 47 more solvent states and as a retiree if I were to join them, I would become one of those who have to date re-moved over $40 billion dollars of annual A.G. Income out of New York to those tax friendly states to be spent and invested where ten of those states would allow one to retain minimally 20 percent-plus of the same adjusted gross income.  

Our personal income tax problem in New York is not going to be worse off for enacting reforms of the Federal Tax Code in D.C., but it will continue to suffer by NOT doing Tax Reform in Albany with inclusion of the myriad Taxing Authorities, and specifically with Property Tax Reform for the revenue support required for schools, local and county infrastructure and government. 

Albany’s Grand Plans of Doing Everything and Achieving Little is reflected in the numbers of failed businesses, empty stores, unemployment, increased need for social service usage, current drug epidemic and the number of taxpayers who have fled the state. The path is unsustainable and to hear Gov. Cuomo and the majority of the elected in Albany carry on and point fingers at Republican legislators and leaders in D.C. for all of New York’s problems? Unbelievable.

Sincerely,

Florence Alpert

Candor, N.Y.