Sayward says property-tax cap isn't dead

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July 2, 2008

<a href="mailto:lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com">By LOHR McKINSTRY</a> The Press Republican Wed Jul 02, 2008, 10:55 AM EDT

ELIZABETHTOWN — Assemblywoman Teresa Sayward said she’s working hard on setting up a safety net for people who can’t pay heating bills this winter.

Sayward (R-Willsboro) told the Essex County Board of Supervisors she expects the legislature to be called back into session sometime in July.

That’s when issues like home-heating-oil subsidies and property-tax reform could be addressed, she said.

She said a lot was left undone at the last legislative session in Albany.

“We have a lot of work left to do. It was a very eventful session. It started off with a bang and ended that way, too.”

PROPERTY-TAX CAP

Sayward said she believes the property-tax cap issue is not dead after all. It has been opposed by major labor unions, which at one time declared it “dead.”

“About 73 percent of the people in the state of New York want a property-tax cap. I hope when we return in July people will have crowded our representatives and we can get that done.”

A Siena College poll came up with the 73-percent figure.

A Circuit Breaker bill would cap homeowners’ property taxes at a percentage of their income, roughly 6 to 8 percent.

Sayward said the idea for the property-tax Circuit Breaker bill came from Essex County officials.

“That was the very beginning of the concept of Circuit Breaker. Time will play that out. The people need it (property-tax reform), and they need it now.”

Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) is the Senate sponsor of the bill, which has yet to be voted on in either house.

IDA REFORM

The legislature is also working on rewriting the law governing the state’s industrial development agencies, which can offer incentives to businesses.

“We didn’t do anything with the IDAs,” Sayward said. “Hopefully, we can work on that before we go back in July.”

Sayward said there may be problems with that bill because its restrictions include not building on properties without municipal sewer and water or on which a zoning variance is needed.

That would severely limit an IDA’s role in rural areas like northern New York, she said.

HEATING PAYMENTS

Sayward said she was invited to a meeting last week with Gov. David Paterson and other legislators.

“The governor asked for suggestions. My suggestion was there’s an awful lot of capital project money left; send it to the counties as a safety net (fund) for home-heating fuel.”

Agencies in Clinton County have considered housing people who can’t afford to heat their homes this winter, she said.

“We have people calling who say they’re going to close their house down and move in with someone else this winter. This is serious.”

Supervisor Ronald Jackson (R-Essex) said it would help if the income ceiling for Home Energy Assistance Program aid were raised.

“I see the safety net (plan) as something that’s different than HEAP, with different qualifications,” Sayward said.

The federal HEAP program distributed $3 billion in heating aid last winter. Some indicators are that heating fuel may be $5 to $6 a gallon this winter.

“There are so many people who are going to be so desperate,” Supervisor Joyce Morency (R-St. Armand) said.

Supervisor Thomas Scozzafava (R-Moriah) said there has to be some way to help people who can’t afford to pay for deliveries of heating oil.

“It’s impacting everyone — senior citizens, working people,” Scozzafava said.

“Hopefully, our (heating oil) distributors will work with us here in the county while we establish some safety nets. There’s not any local distributor out there that wants to cut people off.”

E-mail Lohr McKinstry at:

lmckinstry@pressrepublican.com