ALBANY – Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was the odd man out yesterday as Gov. Paterson pressed for a cap on soaring property taxes in his first post-session powwow with legislative leaders.
Silver (D-Manhattan) continued his opposition to the proposal after the closed-doors confab, despite Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos’ (R-Nassau) vow to pass legislation in the next few weeks.
The meeting at the Governor’s Mansion was the first of its kind since the Legislature gaveled out for summer June 24.
Silver yesterday said he could support a property tax cap, if Paterson assures him that schools will still get the money they need.
“What guarantees do we have that the children in those districts will continue to get the resources that are necessary?” he asked.
The controversial plan to cap the growth of school property taxes at 4 percent annually would have little impact in New York City, where schools are largely funded through income taxes.
But it’s shaping up as a defining issue in Senate races outside the city, where the GOP is battling to save its four-decade lock on the chamber.
The measure is opposed by the powerful teachers’ unions, which argue the cap would starve needy schools of cash needed to pay their bills and improve student performance.
But polls suggest overwhelming support for the cap across the Empire State, where homeowners pay among the nation’s highest property taxes.
After initially resisting the proposal, Skelos and his Senate Republicans now say they’ll support it, leaving only Silver and Assembly Democrats in opposition in the Legislature.