There are three proposed local laws before the Common Council that would provide property tax breaks to three different groups within the community. One group is volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers. The proposed law would provide them with an exemption from City property taxes of up to 10 percent of the assessed value of their home.
A second proposed law would raise the income level for senior citizens seeking a tax break to $42,399. The amount of the exemption depends on how much less than $42,399 one's household income is, as shown below. Homeowners with a household income of $34,000 or less could see the assessed value of their home, used for determining the amount of property tax owed, reduced by 50 percent.
A third proposed law provides the same exemptions offered to people over 65 to people with disabilities and limited incomes.
All three proposed laws were introduced last month. The Council is expected to vote on enacting them at the regular meeting on Tuesday, March 19.
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I'm fine with these tax breaks.The senior ones are means tested, so it's going to those who could use a break. The firefighter one is too low in my opinion. They're doing free labor for the city and ultimately I think we'll have to hire a professional workforce as the city population becomes older and wealthier, they'll have even more difficulty getting volunteers. The kind of tax breaks I'm against are exemptions and PILOTs given to wealthy developers under the grift of "affordable housing." There's plenty of demand for market rate, and even non-luxury, housing. The taxpayers don't need to fund your investments. No more.
ReplyDeleteI don't think anyone begrudges the fire department members or the elderly/needy reasonable property tax relief. What I'd like to know, and what I think many of my neighbors would like to know, is why are the mayor and city council refusing to collect property tax arrears that rightfully belong to the rest of Hudson's property owners and their tenants? As I understand it, there's over $2m in back taxes owed by only 3 properties. And don't kid yourself -- the City needs these funds: last time I looked at the numbers, even a partially paid fire department (with paid officers and volunteer line) would bankrupt the City in a few years or cause a massive property tax increase (or more likely both).
ReplyDeleteTax breaks for the deserving and needy are good; revenue assurance is good, too, especially when not collecting past-due taxes negatively impacts the rest of us who live and work here, either directly or indirectly.
That's a lot of back tax. Curious to know what three properties and who owns them?
DeleteActually I mistyped: 3 properties owe $750k. The total is $2m. For comparison, the city budget is less than $14m. The question to ask is, why is the mayor playing favorites? Could it because he doesn’t pay his own taxes so he doesn’t believe anyone else should? Or are the beneficiaries of “his largesse” political cronies? His landlord?
DeleteThe current administration really embraces a culture of non-enforcement and thus no consequences for not following your civic obligations. From the failed parking amnesty to not making property owners maintain their sidewalks, and as you mention paying your taxes... why does anyone need to do anything they don't feel like doing. It's not a secret that many operate on "beg forgiveness, rather than ask permission." We're at peak disfunction and the mayor is going to keep cruising on until someone has the courage to call it out and unseat him.
DeleteHow many volunteer firefighters and ambulance workers live in Hudson?
ReplyDeleteThere's a typo on page 3, section 5 of the proposed law would provide an exemption to firefighters. The text states "SEVERALBILITY." The proper spelling is "severability."
ReplyDeleteThere's another typo in the text. The letter "a" in RPTL section 466-a should be lower case, not capitalized. Although it might seem trivial, it's important to get legal citations correct in local legislation.
ReplyDelete