Governor Cuomo says he won’t sign a state budget unless it has a 2 percent property tax cap.
“Property taxes are two and a half times the State income tax. By far and away the largest tax a person pays is the property tax,” Cuomo said.
The tax cap is already in effect, but is set to expire.Cuomo wants to make it permanent, arguing that taxes were skyrocketing before it was implemented.
When you're old like me, the mortgage was the problem buying a house. Now you can afford the mortgage, you can't afford the property taxes. And to go up 6, 7, 8 percent a year, what goes up 6, 7, 8 percent a year?” Cuomo asked.
He said more money isn’t always the answer to government’s problems. The governor argued that it can still work without dramatic increases every year.
“You can live with 2 percent a year because by the way it's the cost of living adjustment that families are living with year to year. And we passed it. And you know what, the world is still spinning. Government is still functioning. We wound up finding ways to make the budget work and still do all the good work that we're doing,” Cuomo said.
The budget is due by the end of the month.