New York is what is called a home rule state.....Local governments derive their authority to govern based on actions of the State Legislature.
For instance, a city can regulate taxi cabs because the Legislature said so. Regulating the sale of alcohol is not something local governments are authorized to do.
So, in many cases, for a local government to impose say, a sales tax, there is a requirement for home rule legislation. Sometimes that legislation is written with sunsets, such as the .75% issue being considered now.
Sunsets are put in to create the illusion of the tax being temporary, and they allow the state legislator sponsoring the bill to have leverage over local decisions.
Due to etiquette, you pretty much have to have your local Senators or Members of Assembly carry the bill or it will not pass.
Many home rule bills are perfunctory, but ones that carry taxes are sensitive. While passing a home rule bill may seem a harmless way to help a local government, a political foe can easily add up all those home rule bills and declare that lawmaker to be a chronic taxer.
That is what was done when Assemblywoman Scozzafava ran for Congress, although her campaign suffered from other woes as well.
One example would be legislation that would allow the City of Watertown to increase fees for death certificates...It required home rule and normally a legislator would get this approved. Not so this year as no one wants their fingerprints on any tax or fee. In this case its no big deal, but in the case of sales tax it is a big deal for local governments.
That is why in exchange for carrying the water on this tax, Senator Patty Ritchie was able to extract from the County certain promises her office felt important.
"Yes I raised taxes, but in doing so I ensured economic growth by helping meet the critical housing needs of our brave soldiers and their families," the press release should read.
That's not Reaganesque, but it is Reagenesque.
7 comments:
Are not local county governments allowed to regulate alcohol by setting the closing times for taverns?
The only vulnerability for a republican when it comes to signing off on the sales tax is if someone more conservative tries to overthrow her. And that ain't gonna happen...or will it???{fingers crossed}
But it is easy and right to spin as the conservative thing to do..to allow local governments to govern themselves.
But how do you justify corporate welfare to housing developers on a conservative ticket? It is one thing to give a PILOT for a few years and it is another altogether to give two million of our money away.
Patty Ritchie's staff have been abusing their privelages in Oswego County. Excelent Valley News article today on it. Not sure what Patty will do about it.
http://pattyplate.blogspot.com/
http://www.valleynewsonline.com/viewnews.php?newsid=86774&id=1
Allowing local governments to govern themselves is one thong. Allowing local governments to unnecessarily burden the taxpayers is a completely different thing. Isn't that what the property tax cap thatthe Senate Democrats and Darrel were championing last year. If she breaks to the left of her predecesor you can bet that there will definitely be a primary. And from what I have been reading from 12:51's post her base will not stand for deviating from the hard right position.
The county elders should have told Patty to get bent and used the county slush fund to hold us over until we can replace her and run her out on the same rail we put Dede RINO on. With gasoline prices doubling over the last two years, the tax stream should hold out long enough to get rid of her.
Now that Patty has agreed to carry the sales tax extention maybe she can explain to me the difference between this extension and the millionaires extension??? She wouldn't support that cause she called it a new tax???
Or let's explain the how many of the developers paid into the PattyPlate campaign, really how many more LOW INCOME apts. do we need??
It is pretty simple. The millionaire tax is a tax higher than most of the rest of the states in our country charge on people that already pay more than their share. It drives millionaires to Florida for six months and a day, thus costing our state all of the tax.
The .75% sales tax is well within the norm for sales tax rates and allows the takers to give a little back. They will not pay it on food or clothes or rent... just on their tattoos and ring tones and Mil' best.
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