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Poll: Upstaters demanding relief

By Tom Wanamaker

ALBANY — Upstate New Yorkers are crying for tax relief.

In a poll released Monday, three-quarters of upstate residents said they support capping property taxes, while 64 percent favor a temporary suspension of 32 cents of the state’s 41 cents of fuel taxes.

“Voters overwhelmingly believe that the cap is necessary to help struggling taxpayers and help school districts spend more carefully,” said Steven Greenberg, spokesman for the Siena Research Institute, which conducted the survey. “They strongly disagree that the cap is unnecessary because voters approve school budgets, and nearly two-thirds of voters reject the argument that the cap will hurt education in New York.”

Gov. David A. Paterson, following a commission’s recommendation, has proposed a 4-percent annual cap on property tax increases, which in recent years has been driven largely by school budget increases.

The Democrat-dominated Assembly has not acted on the idea, while the Senate Republican majority on Monday offered a plan, “Stop Taxing Our Property,” that would lower school property taxes by 20 percent annually until they are completely eliminated after five years.

Senate Democrats have proposed a 2-percent cap on property taxes.

Assembly Minority Leader James N. Tedisco, R-Schenectady, launched a statewide petition drive in May advocating a suspension of the eight-cent sales tax, eight-cent motor fuel tax and the 16-cent petroleum business tax from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Through Monday, thousands of people had signed copies of the petition, mostly on Long Island and western New York - the areas most heavily represented by the Assembly Republican Minority, a Tedisco spokesman said.

Almost 80 percent of upstate residents polled said voiced agreement that “the property tax cap ins necessary to help people who have seen average property tax bills in New York increase by seven per cent a year over the past five years.”

More than half, 55 percent, of upstaters say New York is headed in the right direction, while 57 percent have a favorable opinion of Gov. Paterson.

Forty-eight percent of upstaters polled believe the state Senate should remain under Republican control after the November election, versus 41 percent who want to see the Democrats take over. Republicans hold a 32-30 majority, with all 62 seats up for election.

Upstaters are evenly divided over the issue of same-sex marriage, with 43 percent favoring a state law to ban the practice and 42 percent opposed.

The poll was conducted via phone calls to 624 registered voters in New York from June 9-11. It has a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.9 percentage points. “Upstate” is defined as the region of the state north of Putnam and Dutchess counties. Complete poll data is available online at: www.siena.edu/sri

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