Briccetti on need for a Property Tax Cap and Cuomo Budget

February 15, 2011

In a one-on-one video interview with Nick Reisman of the Gannett News Service,  Heather Briccetti acting-president and CEO of The Business Council pressed the need to pass a property tax cap in New York.

Nick writes on LoHud.com -  “ Acting Business Council President and CEO Heather Briccetti said today it was “critical” to pass a 2 percent cap on local and school property taxes because there will be a temptation to raise revenue due to state cuts.

“When you start making cuts in a budget like this, part of what gets cut is the aid to localities so there will be a temptation at the local level to make up for those cuts by increasing real property taxes so we think it’s critical that it gets passed this session,” she said after testify before a joint legislative budget committee.

The Senate has already approve a 2 percent cap on local property taxes. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has said he favors a cap, but has not said if he would support passing the cap, which was introduced at Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s urging.”

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Business Council and other Business groups lobby for Cuomo’s budget efforts

Thomas Adams writes in the Rochester Business Journal - “Representatives of the Business Council of New York State Inc. on Monday called on the state Senate and state Assembly to support Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s call for reduced spending, holding the line on taxes now and allowing for tax relief in the future.

“The best economic development program to create jobs in New York is to create a better business climate,” said Heather Briccetti, the Business Council’s acting president and CEO, in remarks to the Senate Finance Committee and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

Members of the Business Council, the Unshackle Upstate coalition of businesses and other business organizations were in Albany to lobby the Assembly to approve a 2 percent cap on property taxes.

“We need to adopt a no-growth budget, and avoid adding spending and taxes that are simply unaffordable for the state’s economic, business sector and its residents,” Briccetti said.

The Business Council also expressed concern about the proposed merger of the state’s Department of Banking, Insurance and Consumer Protection Board into a new Department of Financial Regulation.

It urged the state Legislature to give the concept a thorough review.

The New York chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business, the New York Farm Bureau and the New York State Association of Realtors also lobbied the Assembly for a tax cap.”

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