Results tagged “propertyrebate”

The City Council approved Mayor Bloomberg's plan to increase homeowners' property taxes by 7%, in a 33-to-18 vote, which the NY Times calls "a close one by City Hall standards." Clearly, many Council members, like Bill de Blasio who said, "I honestly believe we have no other choice. I salute the courage of my colleagues today," supported the measure, a few were critical. Councilman Simcha Felder said, "Today, the Council votes to take the bucket to the same old well and ask homeowners to bear the brunt of a swelling budget among dwindling revenues...I believe that is unacceptable and that will hurt all New Yorkers in this difficult time.” City Council Speaker Christine Quinn pointed out that the $400 property tax rebates, which the Mayor agreed to send out, could be used to pay for the increase in property taxes. Um, great.

A State Supreme Court judge said he's ready to step in if the Mayor Bloomberg and the City Council continue their skirmish over the $400 property rebate checks. In a hearing about a lawsuit from S.I. lawmakers over the checks, Justice Philip Minardo said, "This is a serious matter, and it affects hundreds of thousands of people, and it's not going to languish. If the Council and mayor do not agree, then...the court will decide." Bloomberg, who contends the city can't afford the $256 million, said, "I would like to send out the checks. The question is, what is the cost of doing that? If we do that, make no mistake about it, there will be fewer city employees, because that's where the city money goes, to pay employees who provide services." But City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, "This shouldn’t be in the courts...the checks should be sent out and we should stop wasting court counsel’s time in court" (but she did concede it would be impossible for the Dept. of Finance to send the checks by Christmas).

Property tax rebate check update! According to the Post, this past Sunday, "Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, usually political allies, had a closed-door argument at Gracie Mansion over his refusal to release" the checks. While Bloomberg claimed the $256 million used for the $400 checks would be better used for other city needs, it turns out he can't cancel them without City Council approval. Bloomberg and the Council had been trying to work out a deal, but Quinn got apparently annoyed at Bloomberg for dragging his feet with actually getting the checks issued. Yesterday, she said, "I think there is not a snowball's chance in hell that the City Council is going to pass a bill that would allow the rebate to not to go this year... The mayor should send the checks out, he should tell Finance to print them, we should move this along."

After much hullabaloo and veiled threats from Mayor Bloomberg that property tax rebate checks would not be sent out due to the city's budget struggles, it appears that city homeowners will in fact receive them--possibly in time for the holiday season. After being called out on the idea of withholding the checks, the Bloomberg administration said that they did not have to mail them until June.

City Comptroller and mayoral hopeful Bill Thompson has stepped into the simmering debate over the $400 property rebate checks. Mayor Bloomberg has said the city doesn't have the $256 million it costs to send them to homeowners this year, but Thompson tells the Post, "The money is there. It only requires creativity, thoughtfulness and a consideration that budget cuts should not disproportionately affect New Yorkers." In the mean time, Mayor Bloomberg is trying to assure New Yorkers he'd love to send them the check--"There’s nobody who would like to send a check to every homeowner in this city more than me"--but some City Council members believe he'll use the issue as a bargaining chip during budget negotiations.

Is it shocking that Mayor Bloomberg may ignore the City Council by refusing to issue the $400 property rebate checks to homeowners? The NY Times calls him "defiant," as he said yesterday "that he had no plans to release the money." And the Post quotes him as saying, "We have no money. I think that's what you have to understand. This is not a legal issue; this is a fiscal issue."

When Mayor Bloomberg announced the city's budget cuts the other week, he said he was rescinding the popular $400 property rebate to homeowners. Well, now it turns out that Bloomberg needs the City Council's approval to do so! Therefore, homeowners can expect their checks because the Council thinks Bloomberg's idea is "dead on arrival."