The Mayor's Rebate Check Aquiescence Doesn't Fool Me

Council Speaker Christine Quinn can finally get up in front of the cameras at City Hall and say she battled the Mayor and won the property tax rebate battle. Except that really, she shouldn't. The Mayor is expected to give homeowners the $400 rebate that was already coming in the first place no matter how much he protested it. In return for something that was already ours, the Council has agreed to raise hotel room taxes. Considering tourism in this city, this isn't too troubling as it'll raise an extra $100 million approximately. So why should Quinn keep her quiet over all of this? Well, once that check is in the mail, the property tax is going up, and up and up.

From The S.I. Advance:

The higher property tax rate will add $1.8 billion to city revenue through the next fiscal year. The Council will also vote for a bill to raise the city's hotel occupancy tax by .875 percent, to about 6 percent. That would translate to an additional $100 million in revenue through the same time period.

With the new tax rate, the owner of a one family house at the median market value of $450,000 will pay about $450 more in taxes for half of this year and the next - about a net loss of $50, once they get those rebate checks they been waiting for since Oct. 1.

Yep that's right, as long as you own a house worth $400,000 or more that rebate is swallowed up by the increase and then some. Instead of going after those that can afford an extra tax, the Mayor and his lackey-like Council is going to make middle class homeowners pay as well.

The upside to this is that the extra $1.8 billion is going to help save a few programs. The Mayor, being the generous billionaire that he is, will pardon $20 million dollars worth of city programs. Yeah, you can do the math for that one. So to the press out there, please do not let the Mayor fool you into thinking that he cares about the welfare of those that can't afford those cuts. Similarly, do not think that the Council has the spine to actually stand up to Bloomberg. If one sees that on display, it is merely political smoke and mirrors.