Hawley pursuing property tax relief in Albany

On the campaign trail during February's special election, Assemblyman Stephen Hawley (R,I,C-Batavia) pledged to fight in Albany for real property tax relief.

"New Yorkers are literally being forced from their homes due to an ever-increasing property tax burden," said Hawley. "It's a shame that young families can't purchase homes and that seniors, many of whom already own their homes, have to sell because they can't afford rising property taxes while on fixed incomes."

Assembly Republicans presented their property tax relief plan recently. He said the tax relief plan his Assembly Republican colleagues introduced a month ago is more than twice as large ($2 billion to $900 million), covers more homeowners, is more comprehensive and is better structured to provide lasting relief to overburdened homeowners.

Under the Democrats' plan, a homeowner would receive a tax break only if the individual's property taxes are greater than 7.5 percent of income. This means a working family of four with a household income of $70,000 with a property tax bill of $5,250 or less would receive no relief.

Hawley, an outspoken supporter of reducing the property tax burden, supports many initiatives to lower taxes, such as School Tax Relief (STAR) Excelsior. Since STAR's 1997 inception, the program's tax exemptions have not increased, even as the median home value has risen. STAR Excelsior would index the STAR exemptions to reduce school taxes even more.

"Residents of my district sent me to Albany because I told them I would work to keep more of their hard-earned money in their pockets, and that's what I'm going to do," Hawley said.

March 19, 2006