Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced an agreement on a 2011-2012 budget that eliminates a $10 billion deficit without raising taxes or new borrowing. The decisions needed to reach this agreement were difficult, but were necessary to improve our state’s prospects for renewed growth and economic prosperity for all New Yorkers.
The approximately $132.5 billion budget will reduce spending overall by over 2 percent from the current year. This is the first time since the 1996-1997 budget that the state budget was less than the year before.
About 2 weeks ago, I received a "ROBO" call from Governor Cuomo. His voice recording was advocating for meaningful reduction in state spending and for closing the state's budget without raising taxes or new borrowing. "His goal is to put NY on a path toward fiscal responsibility by cutting next year's projected budget deficit from 15 billion to $2 billion".
At the end of the call his voice asked if I agreed with him and his budget. If yes, I was asked to press #1. The call was transferred to my state Senator's office. A staffer answered the phone. I was taken a back at first because I got a live person. I told them I agreed with the Governor's budget. Then they started asking me specific questions such as where I lived and about certain budget items and what I liked about it.
The agreed upon budget must be approved by both the Senate and the Assembly and will require continued determination on the part of these leaders to implement this budget. This is the first time since 2006 that there has been a budget agreement before the March 31st deadline.
REBNY (Real Estate Board of New York) has been advocating and working diligently for a meaningful reduction in state spending and for closing the state’s budget deficit without raising taxes or new borrowing. REBNY continues to advocate the legislature to work on items that impact the real estate industry. Rent regulation expires on June 15 and REBNY expects it to be renewed to provide a fair, reasonable, and long term transition of our regulated housing inventory to an unregulated market in the future.
There are a number of incentive programs that must be extended or renewed to promote capital investment in our city’s one million properties. The 421a partial tax exemption program for new residential construction expired in December 2010 and the Industrial and Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP) expired in February 2011. Similarly, the transfer tax reduction for sales of property to REITs expires in September 2011 and the J-51 program an incentive for apartment building renovation expires at the end of the year.
These incentive programs are critical for new market rate and affordable housing, for new commercial and retail development, and for encouraging capital investment in our aging residential and commercial properties.
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