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.
i’m not looking forward to tax increases, but bloomberg’s frankness about the tough medicine that is coming up is refreshing. we haven’t heard anything like that yet at the federal level.
I think you are nuts. There is no way it is going up to 70. Those days are long gone. Even a Democrat won’t take the top rate above 40.
No, Tybur6,
Taxes under Bill Clinton were definitely bearable for the wealthy since the economy was strong at the time. We are now at the start of a major recession and tax increases of any amount can be devastating to individuals and businesses.
Unfortunately, it’s more likely that Obama will raise the highest income tax bracket to 70%, where it was prior to Reagan, if he really plans on reducing taxes on 95% of the population, and if he’s determined to carry out the spending initiatives he’s promised.
I’m very worried about my taxes hitting 70% or higher and a lot of you folks should be too.
There will be more tickets given out for drinking on stoops.
I always benefited from those checks and I never liked them. Every time I received them I would say to myself why don’t they take all this money and put it into the poorest schools. This is a bonus check for being rich.
I am also for the commuter tax. You want to use our sewage system, our roads and our police force when the sh*t hits the fan then how about paying for it? I’m fine with tourism but people who spend more than 1/3 of their day here over 250 days a year should pay up.
my question is??……
will we still get the $400 check this year? If you call 311 the automated message is checks will be mailed out late fall….
The Bill Clinton era tax levels on the wealthy were unbearable? They were detrimental to the economy?
Government would make Orwell proud. A government “spending cut” is when they spend less than they previosly planned, regardless of whether it’s more than last year. On the other hand, if the amount of taxes paid goes up, it’s not an increase unless the tax rates applied actually go up.
McCain talked in generalities about wanting to reduce taxes for everybody.
Obama specifically promised that he’d lower taxes for 95% of the population.
There’s a big big difference and it’s largely what got him elected, in my opinion.
And Dittoburg, Obama only said he’d increase taxes on individuals making over 200k and families making over 250k back to where they were under Bill Clinton.
Nearly every promise Obama made sounds like a fairy tale to me.
I’m sorry if you left wingers find me annoying, but I’m right.