New York Unions Fight Property Tax Cap

The New York Post reports:

It took a while, but Gov. Paterson finally stepped up to the plate and showed long-suffering New Yorkers that he's on their side when it comes to the state's runaway taxation and spending.

He couldn't have picked a better fight.

Paterson yesterday embraced the call from Nassau Executive Tom Suozzi's property-tax-reform commission for a hard-and-fast cap on the tax that local school districts can levy without explicit voter approval.

Suozzi's plan, which Paterson vowed to offer to the Legislature, would automatically cap the yearly increase in school-tax levies at 4 percent or 1.2 times the rate of inflation - whichever is lower.

"The growth rate of property taxes in this state is unsustainable, especially for the elderly, working families and small businesses," Paterson said, acknowledging that a cap would nonetheless be a "blunt instrument."

Thing is, a blunt instrument is exactly what's needed here - the blunter, the better.

As Paterson noted, New Yorkers shoulder the highest local tax burden in the country - some 79 percent above the national average.

And thanks to expensive state mandates and union-skewed budget-referen- dum rules, local voters have next to no power to apply the brakes to runaway school spending.

The only solution: Force hard choices by limiting the amount of money the school district can collect in the first place.

Truth be told, Paterson's cap is, if anything, too high. Four percent yearly budget growth (plus whatever extra revenue comes in from property taxes on new construction) leaves more than enough cash to spread around - especially since district voters could still authorize higher spending if they wanted to.

But it is a cap - and it represents a huge improvement over spending that's grown at an average of 6 percent a year over the past decade.

For this reason alone, of course, nothing but a titanic effort on Paterson's part will suffice to push the bill through.

The ever-powerful New York State United Teachers is already vowing to fight it tooth and nail. Don't expect Senate Republicans - let alone Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver - to lift a finger in opposition to that crew in an election year. (Or ever, for that matter.)

All the same, it's time Paterson showed some fight.

We wish him the best.