Gary D. Finch

HOMEOWNERS DESERVE PROPERTY TAX RELIEF

     In talking with my constituents and reading the mail that comes into my office, rising property taxes is by far the biggest concern for residents of my district.  That is why my Assembly Republican colleagues and I last week announced a comprehensive plan to reduce the growing property tax burden placed on New York’s residents. 

     We are working to find the best way to solve this complex problem with the goal being more equitable property taxes that put more money back into the hands of hard-working New Yorkers. 

     Saving Our Homes – The Assembly Republican Property Tax Relief Plan includes enhancements to the School Tax Relief (STAR) Program, including STAR Excelsior and Co-STAR program, additional reforms to prevent Medicaid waste and fraud, and other measures aimed at saving our residents their valuable tax dollars. 

     The new proposals would save the average homeowner in my district between $588 and $790 annually, and the average senior citizen homeowner between $1,130 and $1,467 each year.

     We want to make owning a home more affordable by increasing STAR program tax exemptions, which have not changed since the program’s 1997 inception.  This would help homeowners a great deal by providing $1.75 billion in additional tax relief through increasing the current STAR exemptions by up to 70 percent.  The new Co-STAR initiative would provide an additional $287 million in property tax rebates for seniors and farmers.

     Too many of our residents must pay ever-increasing school taxes to compensate for revenue shortfalls caused by state aid cuts to school districts.  Most school districts today receive less state operating aid than they did four years ago, and the average taxpayers are the ones who suffer because their local school districts pass the increase along to them.  We can help fix this problem by providing $72.86 million in restoration aid for school districts throughout the state.

     Medicaid fraud, waste and abuse account for 10 percent of the program’s cost.  That amounts to billions of dollars in wasted resources every year! To rein in these costs, we have proposed comprehensive Medicaid fraud recovery and reporting legislation. We also will work to strengthen the state Office of Medicaid Inspector General and provide that counties return the savings achieved by eliminating waste and fraud back to the taxpayers.

     The Saving Our Homes plan is the right thing to do on behalf of taxpayers.  We cannot continue to inflict an unreasonable tax burden upon homeowners. 

     I will strongly push for these sensible solutions to help people save their hard-earned money.  Homeowners deserve action on this issue now.

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