This property tax cap does not even come close to solving any problem with property taxes, 4% is still above the rate of inflation, yet the unions are screaming it will devastate the system, the school districts will fall apart. How much longer do we have to listen to these people cry wolf. Taxes are higher in this state than any other, how much is enough to feed these bloated eating machines… With pensions and double dipping, health care plans that people in the private sector will never see, it’s time to end this charade.

You know dam right well that barely anyone comes out to vote for or against the school budgets that is why it is all out of control. Move the date to the regular election date to end this crap once and for all.

Opposition rises to property-tax cap - Business First of Buffalo:

Two groups are launching a seven-figure campaign against Gov. David Paterson’s property-tax cap plan.

The Working Families Party and the Alliance for Quality Education said Tuesday it was launching a major TV ad campaign against Paterson’s plan.

The state Senate approved limits on property tax increases in a special session on Friday, along with several measures designed to cut costs for school districts.

New York property taxes have been a hot debate over the past several months, following Paterson’s adoption of a recommended cap on annual property tax increases, an idea that riles powerful labor and education unions.

On Friday, the Senate passed Paterson’s tax cap legislation, which limits annual property tax increases to 4 percent or 120 percent of the consumer price index, whichever is lower. A supermajority of a school district’s voters can choose to override the cap at any time.

“Enacting a property tax cap is a good starting point, but it is only one piece of the puzzle,” said Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a downstate Republican.

The Senate also approved a two-year moratorium on property reassessments.

The actions carry little weight at this point, since the state Assembly was not in session. Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, D-Manhattan, has voiced opposition to any tax cap that would decrease aid to school districts or handicap their ability to maintain and improve services.

Silver, and education unions, promote what’s called a circuit breaker. Under such a plan, homeowners would only have to pay a certain portion of their property taxes; the state would then pay the rest.

“A tax cap is a gimmick that does nothing to lower property taxes for hard-pressed New Yorkers,” said Richard Iannuzzi, president of the 600,000-member New York State United Teachers union.

In the past two weeks, the union has spent $350,000 in a television and radio advertising campaign against the tax cap.

“A tax cap would harm education programs, widen the achievement gap and reduce local control over schools,” Iannuzzi said in a statement. “For those state leaders who are really serious about providing tax relief, there are other, better options.”

The Working Families Party and Alliance for Quality Education echoed Iannuzzi’s sentiments.

“Governor Paterson’s tax cap will hurt school kids all around New York state,” said Billy Easton, Alliance for Quality Education executive director.

Their advertisement — titled “Wrong Answer” — urges New Yorkers to call Paterson and tell him that “hurting schools is the wrong answer.” The cost of the ad campaign is about $1.5 million.