End of the $400 Property Tax Rebate
Since 2004, $400 rebate checks have been sent out to homeowners courtesy of the Bloomberg administration. Well, no more. The mayor is immediately axing the program, reports the NY Times, to help shore up the expected $4 billion budget deficit. Other quick fixes: raising personal income tax by as much as 15 percent; hiking the…
Since 2004, $400 rebate checks have been sent out to homeowners courtesy of the Bloomberg administration. Well, no more. The mayor is immediately axing the program, reports the NY Times, to help shore up the expected $4 billion budget deficit. Other quick fixes: raising personal income tax by as much as 15 percent; hiking the city’s portion of the state sales tax by as much as three percent; and charging a nickel for every plastic bag a consumer picks up at a store. “The mayor also detailed $1.5 billion in proposed budget cuts that would affect virtually every agency in city government,” they write. “The measures include closing libraries for a half day, eliminating dental programs and closing a clinic in East Harlem.” Should Wall Street rally and the economy heal, the mayor said, checks will go out again.
Mayor Cancels Rebates for Homeowners [NY Times]
Photo by tienmao.
the average home price in new york city is a little under $800,000. at 20% down, that’s a monthly payment of around $4,000/month. add in insurance/maintenance/taxes, you’re up to around $5,000/month, or $60,000/year. i repeat, that’s for the AVERAGE home in this city.
assuming someone earning $250,000/year nets somewhere around $130,000 to $150,000, the housing payment would make up 40-45% of his or her net income. that’s a lot.
so it can’t be seriously argued that someone earning $250,000 here is “rich,” given that it’s a reach to buy even an average home at that income. mike bloomberg is rich. the other 100 or so billionaires who live here are rich. people earning $250,000? comfortable, yes, but not rich.
I’ll ditto that
Fact # 1: When taxes need to be increased, the burden should fall on the “rich” guys.
Fact # 2: A “rich” guy is someone making a bit more than you.
Miss Muffet;
No apologies necessary! Have a nice day!
Of course we all know “rich” begins in your heart.
(Oh and somewhere around a quarter of a million per year)
OK, Benson, my apologies since I do not mean to incite class resentment. I guess I misunderstood some of the comments here among people making 250K+ and seem to think that is “not that much” when I (and many others) think it’s a lot of money. That said, I also would not say someone is very rich in NYC at that income level, but I suppose the difficulty is defining: where does “rich” begin, which is all relative.
There’s some pyschological barrier at that 50% level.
Boerum Hill;
Well said!! My sentiments, exactly.
Miss Muffet:
I never said that I felt “squeezed”, and indeed, I am well aware that MANY folks have to get by on a whole lot less.
My point is this notion that someone earning that much in NYC is “rich” and therefore should now hand over almost half their money to government entities is nuts. I do not own a second home, I do not own a boat or some other extravagant toy. I am not “rich”. Moreover, I take pride in what I’ve accomplished, given that I started out life in the Red Hook Projects.
I believe in the progressive tax system, but I don’t believe in class resentment, which is what this borders on.
People’s sense of entitlement is poking through here. If someone makes $250K+ income, good for them. It’s their money, not yours. I beleive in a progressive tax system, but think it verges on confiscatory when the government takes more than a “fair” amount. I know it’s hard to define that, but a 39.6% marginal federal rate + 10.85% State + City Rate + 2% – 4% excess social security tax = a combined marginal rate of 52.45%-54.4% on icomes over $250K. In my opinion, that is too much.