New York State Capitol Building by governortomwolf is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commonsz

New York State’s classic backroom budget negotiations have taken the budget past deadline. The concern for taxpayers: billions in new spending and a variety of tax hikes are on the table. 

Americans for Tax Reform (ATR) sent a letter to legislators in Albany calling on them to reject any and all proposed tax hikes, and a costly plan that would reverse reforms to the state’s pension system – at a total cost of $100 billion. 

Surprisingly, the Governor’s executive budget includes a series of lawsuit reforms to tackle insurance fraud and abuse that make New Yorkers pay the highest auto insurance premiums in the nation. ATR urged legislators to approve the governor’s tort reform plan. 

The many tax hikes that have been proposed include: 

•               One-Time Income Tax Surcharge (SB9009)

•               Corporate Franchise Tax (SB9009-A)

•               Gold Bullion Tax (SB7875)

•               NYC Mansion Tax Increase (SB8300-B)

•               Nicotine Pouch Tax (S8080)

•               Crypto Mining Tax (A8800-B)

•               Noisy Helicopter Tax (S1140-A)

•               Yacht Tax (S3874)

Every tax proposed in this budget will only take money out of the pockets of families and small businesses owners. In a time of increasing unaffordability, these proposals will burden taxpayers with higher costs at the counter, forcing families to tighten their budgets.

In addition to these tax hikes, Albany needs to reject undoing Tier 6 Pension reform. In 2000, New York State’s public pension system costed taxpayers $1 billion. In 2010, it jumped to $10 billion. Tier 6 pension reform was passed in 2012 to put this runway spending in check, by requiring public employees to pay up to 6% of their salary towards their pensions. This commonsense reform created a more predictable and stable budget process allowing New York State to focus on long term goals and saved families from higher taxes.

Undoing Tier 6 pension reform would force New York State to spend billions of more dollars annually on pensions. The state’s budget has already doubled over the past decade, from $155 billion in 2016 to an estimated $254 billion in 2026. If Tier 6 pension reform is undone, it would cost the state $100 billion dollars over the proceeding years. And, as with all increase in government spending, it would be taxpayers who would have to foot the bill.

This would drive up property taxes as well, as local governments will be required to foot the bill as these changes affect their workers. And, shockingly, some Republicans have been considering this completely unaffordable proposal. 

There is one silver lining. Governor Hochul’s proposed tort reform is a commonsense measure that should be passed by Albany. It will crack down on abusive lawsuits and increase the transparency and accountability of New York State’s legal system. It will also save families thousands of dollars in fraudulent charges. Taxpayers of New York State currently pay the highest in the country for auto insurance rates, averaging $4,000 a year. Passing Governor Hochul’s TORT reform will put an end to this abuse.

New York State has a long road ahead to reverse the trend of productive citizens and businesses fleeing the state. Politicians in Albany need to come to their senses, embrace the Governor’s TORT reform, and reject all other proposed tax hikes on their constituents.