Tuesday, October 03, 2006

How Do You Spell Tax Relief?

Property Tax "Rebate" Checks Arrive In Mail; School Tax Bills To Follow Shortly

$250. $260. $239.72. The State's long-awaited and much touted (at least by members of the NYS Legislature) property tax rebates are beginning to trickle down to Nassau County residents. If you have yet to receive your rebate, check your voter registration status!

Meanwhile, right next door in the fair City of New York, where residents pay approximately one-quarter to one-third the property tax paid by Nassau County homeowners, and in many instances, much less than that, residents will also recieve a rebate check from the State (albeit quite a bit smaller than those mailed to their neighbors to the east and to the north).

Add to this rebate, however, a check isssued by the City of New York and approved by the State Legislature, to every NYC homeowner, in the amount of $400, this as an additional NYC property tax rebate. [According to Mayor Bloomberg, this rebate is made possible by the City's shift of the property tax burden from residential taxpayers to commercial taxpayers. Could it be that, here in Nassau County, we need more "shift?"]

So, while Nassau County residents pay far more in property taxes than NYC residents, they will get back far less. More taxes. Less rebate. Are you sure this isn't a Miller Lite commercial?

Not that these rebates will make a dent in your property tax bill, anyway, but can anyone tell us where the equity lies in giving more money back to folks who pay less in the first place?

Oh, right. That's the way its done in America. Tax the already overtaxed to oblivion, and give rebates and tax breaks to those who already pay less than the rest of us.

No sweat. After all, we'll be giving most of that rebate dough back to the State (and feds) come income tax time in April. NYC residents will simply have to give back more of their "windfall."

To be perfectly fair, as The New York Times reported in a recent article, Big Tax Increases, Small Tax Rebates, residential property taxes in the Big Apple are on the rise. Not quite as big a hit for City folk as their Nassau County counterparts will take, but misery does love company, even if the stay is relatively short, and often confined to an illegal basement apartment!]

Meanwhile, your property tax bill, wherever you reside within the reaches of this blog, continues to rise, unabated by either real dollar rebate or proactive legislative initiative.

Election Day is Tuesday, November 7th!

2 comments:

  1. To be fair, the tax structure of NYC and nassau are very different.
    Keep in mind in nassau we pay a school tax. NYC does not have a school tax. NYC residents do pay an income tax. Owners, renters, leasers, etc all pay an income tax. We don't have that in nassau.
    And as you pointed out, there are far more businesses to tax in NYC than in nassau. Comparing NYC to nassau is apples and oranges.

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  2. Nassau County is't the big problem (but it is a problem), it is all the towns, villages, multiple school districts and fiefdoms with special districts taking their "share" of the tax bill.
    Is there a way to reduce the number of levels of government?
    Each level of government has its own administrative employees and their paychecks added up just contribute to the overall tax burden.
    It might be heresy but how about combining school districts and eliminating all the duplication. And then look at the villages and towns and see where cuts can be made.
    We are getting less bang for our buck because of all the layers.

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