By Ayala Ben-Yehuda
The Borough of Homes may get some relief from the 18.5 percent property tax increase that went into effect in Jan. 1, 2003 if Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposes cutting it in his preliminary budget this month.
Political observers have suggested that Bloomberg, who advocated the tax hike to close the city’s yawning budget gap in November 2002, may propose a partial rollback of the tax when he presents his preliminary budget this month.
The mayor’s office did not return calls for comment. But a story in Sunday’s Daily News quoted a City Hall source as saying the Bloomberg administration was weighing whether to announce a property tax rollback proposal this month.
According to city law, the mayor must present a preliminary budget in January.
Councilman David Weprin (D-Hollis), chairman of the Council’s Finance Committee, said Sunday that he had not heard any official news from the mayor’s office of a proposal to lower the property tax.
If Bloomberg did introduce such a measure, “it’s something we’ll look at very carefully,” said Weprin.
The property tax hike, combined with a sales tax increase, had helped bring in much-needed revenue, said the councilman.
“We’ve said all along we’re way ahead of projections. We hope he’ll recognize the revenue that we think is there. Let’s hope the economy continues and Wall Street continues to turn around.”
The mayor’s low poll numbers in the face of the city’s fiscal crisis would be a motivating factor in a proposed property tax rollback, said Weprin.
“Part of (the) strategy is to get his numbers up for re-election,” he said “I want to see if he’ll propose budget cuts as well.”
In other tax news, state Sen. Frank Padavan (R-Bellerose) announced that three state tax cuts would go into effect Jan. 1: The College Tuition Tax Credit, the Gross Receipts Tax and the personal income tax reduction.
The final portion of the College Tuition Tax Credit, a tax cut passed in 2000, will allow students to deduct 100 percent or receive a 4 percent refundable tax credit on college tuition expenses up to $10,000.
For tuition expenses under $5,000, which affects many City University of New York students, the tax credit is at least $200 or the amount of tuition, whichever is less.
The Gross Receipts Tax lowers electricity and natural gas taxes. The personal income tax reduction will reduce the state personal income tax rate from 7.5 percent to 7.375 percent for people with higher incomes. The personal income tax increase is the 2003-2004 state budget is scheduled to be phased out 2006.
Reach reporter Ayala Ben-Yehuda by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.
