ALBANY – Gov. Paterson’s bid to cap soaring property taxes was in doubt yesterday as powerful labor unions lined up against it and key lawmakers offered only tepid support.
Paterson wants to introduce a bill this week that would cap annual school hikes at 4 percent.
Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (R-Rensselaer) has supported a tax cap similar to the governor’s, but Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) has said he won’t take up the proposal this year.
The proposal met swift resistance from organized labor, school officials and their allies in the Legislature, who argue it would crimp school districts’ ability to meet expenses.
“The Assembly and the Senate will be wise enough to reject this educationally unsound proposal,” New York State United Teachers President Richard Ianuzzi said.
The AFL-CIO called the tax cap “ill-conceived,” and the labor-backed Working Families Party dismissed it as a “gimmick.”