taxes

Would it surprise anybody that New York has a tax that raises tens of millions of dollars that doesn't go to its intended use?

The buck-twenty you pay every month on your cell phone bill to pay for 9-1-1 service isn't supporting the intention,  according to the Buffalo News.

Genesee County Sheriff Gary Maha is quoted:

“Basically, they’re using that money as general revenue,” said Genesee County Sheriff Gary T. Maha, whose office oversees 911 operations. “We have not seen any of that money.”

With these startling numbers:

The surcharge — raised in 2002 to $1.20 per month — has generated about $600 million over 15 years, but just $84 million has gone to the municipalities that operate 911 centers, the State 911 Coordinators Association found.

While it's pleasant to think that a broken state Senate means no state-damaging legislation can get passed, some of the bills pending while the Senate argues over leadership roles are important to the operation of local governments.

One of those bills, if not passed, could cost Genesee County as well of all the local towns, villages and the City of Batavia up to $8 million in annual revenue. The funds are used by the county to fund capital projects as well as pay down debt; for the city, towns and villages, the tax is part of operational revenue.

"That's going to cause a significant amount as havoc as we're trying to finish out our fiscal year," said County Manager Jay Gsell.

Every two years, the legislature must reauthorize authority for an a local-option additional 1 percent sales tax in Genesee County, as well as 36 other counties. The 1 percent is added to the permanent three percent levied by the county, plus the state's four percent makes for the 8 percent paid by county residents on local purchases.

It's only that 1 percent that must be reauthorized every two years.  And so has been the case since 1996.

To make up that revenue, Gsell said, the county would need to raise property taxes by $1.80 per assessed $1,000 value of a property.

If the bill isn't signed into law by September, the tax revenue could be lost and it could impact regional revenue for this year and the 2010-2011 budget.

"There is nobody even now who will even say we have a quote unquote quorum and we're going to official going to conduct business," Gsell noted. "My sense is there is so much back and forth and posturing going on that these, what should really be just ministerial functions, are not going to occur."

Audio: Jay Gsell talks about sales tax.

Business First takes a look at tax-relief recommendations encouraging mergers between smaller school districts, and comes up with a list of 13 potential consolidations in WNY, among them Elba and Oakfield-Alabama.

Elba/Oakfield-Alabama

Enrollment is 35 percent lighter in Elba (537 students) than in any other Genesee County district. The closest option for consolidation is 10 minutes down the road in Oakfield-Alabama (990). The resulting district (1,527) would still have fewer students than nearby Batavia.

This may come as no surprise, but many of your neighbors are thinking about leaving New York, according to a poll conducted by Siena College, according to the Buffalo News.

As much as 20 percent of the state's population would like to move or is thinking about, according ot the poll. Only 16 percent said they have no intention of moving.

How many people would follow through on the threat is unknown, but the poll, according to critics, depicts a clear frustration many have with state and local taxes that fuel a high-tax reputation across the nation.

“It absolutely should be of concern to the governor and state leaders,” said Steve Greenberg, a spokesman for the Siena poll.

Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer is still fighting for tax relief under the STAR rebate program, which Ranzenhofer has made central to his legislative agenda since Gov. Paterson announced his intention to cut the program from the state budget.

Ranzenhofer and Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos announced a bill today to restore the STAR rebate checks for the 2009-2010 school year.

SB 5248 would cut 1 percent from Agency Contracts for $519 million in savings and draw on $1 billion in unitemized spending in the state budget.

The full press release follows the jump:

Senator Michael H. Ranzenhofer and Senate Republican Leader Dean Skelos called on State lawmakers to support Senate Bill 5248 that would reinstate the Middle Class STAR Rebate for the 2009-2010 school year and thereafter.  Ranzenhofer and Skelos also proposed a plan to pay for the STAR Rebate Check Program by cutting 1% from Agency Contracts for $519 million in total savings and utilizing $1 Billion in unitemized appropriations in the Public Protection Budget and General Government Bill passed in the State Budget earlier this year.  The use of these funds is at the sole discretion of Governor David Paterson. 

The proposed legislation, sponsored by Senators Skelos and Ranzenhofer provides $386 in property tax relief on average for 82,767 homeowners in the 61st Senate District.  Under the Skelos/Ranzenhofer plan Erie County residents would receive $73 million in overall property tax relief while Genesee County residents would receive $7 million. 

“Western New Yorkers received the short-end of the stick earlier this year when the New York City controlled Senate eliminated the STAR rebate checks from the State Budget which amounts to raising taxes on property taxpayers throughout Erie and Genesee Counties,” said Senator Ranzenhofer.  “Instead of having their taxes increased, Western New Yorkers deserve property tax relief now to defray skyrocketing property taxes.  My proposed legislation would restore STAR rebate checks to homeowners without any new State spending or additional taxes and fees.”

Senator Skelos praised Senator Ranzenhofer for his efforts to provide property tax relief for New Yorkers.

“At a time when so many families in Western New York are struggling to make ends meet, the last thing they need is the Governor and the Legislature taking even more money out of their pockets,” said Dean G. Skelos. “Families count on these rebate checks to help pay their bills, and I commend Senator Ranzenhofer who has been a tremendous advocate to get the STAR rebate checks restored. Our families need action; they are hurting. This legislation will provide much-needed relief to homeowners in Western New York and throughout the entire state.”

Senator Ranzenhofer and members of the Senate Republican conference launched an online petition drive last week to pressure State lawmakers to reinstate the program.  Since then, tens of thousands of citizens across New York have signed the petition at www.IWantMyStarCheck.com <http://www.iwantmystarcheck.com/> .  In addition, hundreds of people have joined Senator Ranzenhofer’s Facebook Group, New York State Taxpayers Need STAR Rebate Checks.

Senate Republicans initiated the STAR Rebate Check program in 2006, which provides a yearly check mailed to homeowners to help defray sky-rocketing school property taxes.  The Democratic controlled Senate Majority eliminated the rebate check program in the 2009-2010 State Budget.

Buffalo attorney Jim Ostrowski lost the first round in his legal fight against New York State grants and government loans to businesses, but he's pushing forward with his crusade against "corporate welfare."

GCEDC's VP of marketing and communications, Chad Zambito is concerned that efforts such as Ostrolwski's could undermine economic development tools such as empire zones and damage efforts to bring business to Western New York.

"What it really does is it sends ends a message to site selectors nationwide that New York is really unfriendly to business," Zambito said. "It certainly sends a message to business people who might be looking at New York State that we might not be the most stable environment."

Zambito said Ostrowski's effort, if successful, would hurt the state because of New York's excessive tax burden.

Ostrowski doesn't buy it.

"That’s a really bad argument," Ostrowski said.  "If you look at Pennsylvania and Ohio, to reduce our taxes to their level, we would have to cut $40 billion out of the budget. Now corporate welfare only moves around about $1.5 billion per year, so it’s not an effective tool to compete with other states (with lower taxes)."

A lawsuit filed by Ostrowski on behalf of a number of people claims that New York's state Constitution forbids government loans and gifts to private enterprises, and for good reason.

Part of the lawsuit reads:

Prior to 1846, the State of New York provided large loans and grants to private
business allegedly for economic development.

When many of these projects failed, state taxpayers were left with a fiscally
unstable state government and much higher taxes to pay off loan guarantees.

To remedy this problem, the state constitution was amended in 1846 to ban loans
to private firms.

The voters approved the amendment, 221,528 to 92,436.

In 1874, the provision was expanded to include a ban on giving the money of the
state to private firms.

State lawmakers sought to amend the Constitution in 1967, but voters defeated the proposal by more than two million votes.

"In the years that have passed, state officials have acted as though the 1967 amendment had become law," the lawsuit reads.

Ostrowski lost his lawsuit, but the decision is now on appeal.

"There is no scientific or economic study that has ever shown these (economic development) policies to be effective," Ostrowski, adding later, "The main question is what gives these bureaucrats that run these agencies any expertise at all what business projects to pursue. Those decisions should be made by entrepreneurs in the market place."

The ECEDC has a number of promising projects on the board, however, has three major projects on the board, including Genesee Valley Agri-Business Park, Upstate Med & Tech Park and Commercialization Center, and the Science, Technology, Advanced Manufacturing Park in Alabama. There is also the possible revitalization of the Harvester Center area, which could also potentially use some extra government funds.

Zimbito doesn't think the lawsuit is any threat to these ongoing projects, but he does think it runs counter to the stimulus incentives being laid out by the Obama Administration.  The suit, if successful, could prevent New York from getting further stimulus aid, with that money going to other states instead.

"The stimulus money is taxpayer dollars to spur investiment and stimulate the economy," Zambito said. "That’s based on a lot of grants and a lot of low interest loans. So I’m not sure how that’s going to play with all this stimulus money that’s coming through state channels. I think that would put a damper on it, and by the sound of it it would put a halt to stimulus dollars as well."

Naturally, given that this is New York, Ostrowski may not even need to win the appeal to achieve the same effect. According to this Dave Catalfamo column, the governor is doing his best to kill of empire zones by making them uninteresting to migrating businesses.

Manufacturers, which are already in danger of joining New York’s Karner blue butterfly on the endangered species list, are now required to generate $10 in economic activity for every $1 in state tax breaks. And the state is ... demanding non-manufacturers to deliver a 20-to-1 return.

Finally, when thinking about government money going to private enterprise for large scale projects, it's always best to keep the downtown mall in mind.

We keep hearing about how New York is in crisis.

So I find this morning's Buffalo News headline a little shocking: Both spending and taxes soar in state budget.

When you or I find our income greatly reduced, our primary option is to massively cut our own spending. We can only raise more revenue if we can sell our services on the open market for a higher fee. We don't have the option of extorting more money from people, unless we want to risk jail time.

The government, especially New York's government, doesn't work that way.  When it find itself facing revenue shortfalls, not only can it force its citizens to pony up more taxes and fees, it can go right ahead and increase spending as well.

Where on the measure of common sense does this fall?

The lead of the News story, with its list of new taxes and fees, along with the total amount raised, is stagger:

The state’s new, inflation-busting budget will require New Yorkers to pay more to go fishing and hunting, drive a car or motorcycle, have life insurance, operate the lights and heat in their homes, buy cigarettes, own a cell phone and drink beer, wine and bottled water.

Single taxpayers making more than $200,000 a year will see a jump in taxes, as will bus companies, nuclear plants, food processing companies, racehorse owners, farmers, pesticide applicators, grocery stores and anyone wanting to open a hospice.

In all, the total number of new taxes, fees and various assessments and surcharges will top $7 billion in the new budget that state lawmakers will vote on beginning Tuesday. The governor’s office put the number at $5.3 billion, but that misses a number of levies.

That's $7 billion that will be sucked out of state's economy. That's $7 billions in lost jobs, lost opportunity and lost economic growth.

The News also reports that items such as the end of the STAR rebate program, will cost taxpayers a total of $10 billion when all is said and done.

That's $10,000,000,000.

Meanwhile, spending is skyrocketing to an astonishing $131.8 billion.

With a $17.7 billion deficit to wrestle—up from $16.2 billion just a week ago — Paterson and lawmakers turned to every possible revenue source to go along with $6.5 billion of assorted cuts to hospitals, nursing homes and other programs. Rounding out the money to fill the gap is $6.2 billion in federal stimulus aid.

It's not enough to just close the budget gap, Gov. Paterson and the legislative leadership just can't wait to spend more money.  As the D&C reports, the new budget increases spending by 9 percent, or about $10 billion. Again, in tough times, you and I must cut spending, but not the government -- it just raises taxes and fees and takes more money out of your pocket.

And what's with using $6 billion in federal stimulus money to balance this bloated budget? That money should go to things that, you know, supposedly, allegedly will stimulate the economy, such as new infrastructure projects. Or helping small businesses. Not to increasing the size and scope of government.

Fiscal mismanagement like this should be an impeachable offense. Albany is out of control.

Rep Chris Lee says he wants to help small businesses. His latest effort, announced in a press release today, is a tax break for start-up costs.  He co-sponsored the legislation with a Democratic congressman from Maryland.

Apparently, a small business can currently only write up $5,000 of its start up costs for tax purposes. Lee's proposal would bump the limit to $20,000.

That sounds good as far as it goes, but at a time when credit is tight for small business start-ups, is it really going to provide the needed stimulus for entrepreneurs? Just asking.

Click on "read more" to view the full press release.

Press Release:

H.R. 1552 endorsed by nation’s leading small business association: “Congressman Lee’s plan to jumpstart the small business sector of our economy is the right approach to getting our economy back on track.”

WASHINGTON – Congressmen Chris Lee (R-NY) and Frank Kratovil (D-MD) held a joint press conference call today to discuss bipartisan legislation they have introduced that would boost small business start-ups by expanding a critical tax incentive. This is one of two bipartisan initiatives Congressman Lee has proposed this month to jumpstart job creation and aid Western New York’s economic recovery.

Congressman Kratovil added: “The men and women who own and operate small businesses are the driving force behind job creation; employing half the nation’s private work force.  These entrepreneurs need encouragement and motivation to create jobs and spur innovation in these challenging times; giving them a start-up expense tax break will do exactly that. “

H.R. 1552 has been endorsed by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business association representing small and independent businesses.

Mike Elmendorf, state director of NFIB/New York, said in a statement, “Congressman Lee’s plan to jumpstart the small business sector of our economy is the right approach to getting our economy back on track.  His proposal to quadruple the start-up deduction will give thousands of small businesses the incentive they need to invest in growing their business and creating jobs.”

Last week, Congressman Lee joined with Congressman John Boccieri (D-OH) to introduce bipartisan legislation (H.R. 1545) to make the research and development (R&D) tax credit permanent. Unlike other proposals to make the R&D tax credit permanent, H.R. 1545 would also offer a bonus tax credit to companies who manufacture most of their products in the United States.


 

This morning's Buffalo News story contains an exceptionally scary phrase:

Gov. David A. Paterson on Tuesday to threaten ... the prospect of billions of dollars in tax hikes on residents to help balance the moribund budget.

Paterson is also planning to cut more than 8,000 jobs from the 141,000 in the executive branch.

So is New York going to test just how high taxes can go before it completely kills the economy?

Property taxes in New York are outrageously high. In that context, it's kind of amazing that Gov. Paterson would suggest the STAR rebate checks be discontinued.

Sen. Mike Ranzenhofer held a press conference in LeRoy yesterday to call on Paterson to rescind his plan elimination of the checks. It's not surprising that I was the only reporter to show up, but as a property owner (for now) in New York, I think those checks are kind of important.

Further, when you consider, as Ranzhofer points out, that the checks return $8 million a year in cash flow to Genesee County, the rebate program is exceptionally important to the local economy.  It is ironic that at a time when the Federal government is spending trillions of dollars under what the president and Congress label a "stimulus" program, Gov. Paterson would take money out of the economy as fast as he can.

However, I think weakest among Ranzenhofer's arguments against elimination of the checks is the notion that elimination of the checks could cause people to lose their homes.  This sounds more like a play on emotion rather than reason. According to Ranzenhofer's own press release, the average check is for $335 and $420.  At $420, that's $35 per month. I just wonder how many property owners are gazing at the precipice over $35 per month? Yes, I can imagine a retired person on fixed income finding $35 very hard to muster, but when the alternative is losing your life-long home, you're probably going to find some way to make sure that tax is paid.

That said, the effort shouldn't even be necessary. Property taxes in New York or too high and the last thing Gov. Paterson should be doing is essentially increasing those taxes.

Taxes are going up, and salaries are doing the same for non-union and part-time city employees, as reported by Daily News reporter Joanne Beck.

City Council approved the budget 2009-2010 by a slim 5-4 vote.

Councilmen Tim Buckley, Marianne Clattenburg, Kathy Briggs, Frank Ferrando and Charlie Mallow voted yes for both resolutions. Councilmen Bill Cox, Bob Bialkowski, Sam Barone and Rose Mary Christian voted no to both.

Taxes will be raised by 2.17 percent, with $216,733 coming from the increase. $5,264,769 of the $23.3 million budget will be raised by taxes.

Sen. Charles Schumer, in tandem with newly appointed Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, issued nearly twenty press releases this morning on funding earmarked for upstate New York communities in the upcoming federal omnibus bill. None of that money has yet been tagged for projects in Genesee County, at least not according to the announcements out of Schumer's office. Buffalo and Niagara Falls were both listed as recipients of significant funding.

Buffalo was awarded $950,000 for its Main Street revitilization project. Niagara Falls will receivie $950,000 to ramp up its "international railway station." Tack on funding for university and medical projects, railway infrastructure and tourism, and the funding level for the greater Buffalo region tops $3 million.

From an article in the Buffalo News this morning:

The money for Buffalo and Niagara Falls will be included in an omnibus federal spending bill funding government operations through the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. The House is scheduled to vote on the bill today, with Senate consideration set for next week.

Rochester also looks to benefit. The George Eastman House is on the bill for $381,000 "to preserve and allow access to museum library collections through new Web applications."

From the press release:

"This is terrific news for the entire Rochester community," said Schumer.  "The George Eastman House is one of the oldest and most revered photography and film museums worldwide. In these technology-driven times, it’s important for the federal government to do everything in its power to ensure that such historic, cultural gems as this one are able to adapt in ways that allow them to both preserve their heritage and expand their resources.”

“These federal dollars will go a long way to preserve the collections at the George Eastman House while making them accessible through the internet,” said Senator Gillibrand. “These snapshots are an important part of our history. I will continue to work with Senator Schumer to ensure that New York receives its fair share of federal funding.”

A significant portion has been eyed for higher education in the state. St. John Fisher College is on tap for $475,000. Albany's College of Nanoscience and Engineering is marked for $1 million. Binghamton University is in line to receive $2 million.

Batavia City Council members Charlie Mallow and Marianne Clattenburg were in Albany recently meeting with "key officials," according to Mallow, in the hopes of securing fundig for the city. We hope to soon hear what progress they made.

Funny, I was just thinking a night or two ago -- I wonder if there shouldn't be some sort of Boston-Tea-Party-inspired protests in New York.

We've got another post on the stimulus package coming in a little while. In the meantime, we want to get your thoughts.

One of our readers recently pointed us to a study by the Tax Foundation that lists 1,817 counties across the U.S. according to the amount of property tax as a percentage of home value. Genesee County ranks 8th. In other words, 1,811 other counties in this nation pay less of a percentage of teir home value in property taxes.

Now, we've always known that we the people of western New York get shafted as far as taxes go. But it's another thing to see it quantified so starkly. Not only is Genesee County the eighth most taxed county in the country. Counties in New York make up 19 of the top 20 in the list!

Now, folks here may rank only 193rd on that list as far as amount of taxes paid (a median $2,565), but with a median home value of $95,500, that means the taxes paid total up about 2.7 percent of the home value. Wayne County is the same. Orleans County is first on the list with 3 percent. So on and so forth for our region. Just take a look.

We asked our state representatives, Assemblyman Steve Hawley, and newly-elected Senator Mike Ranzehofer, to weigh in on this. Hawley's office got back to us last week by issuing a press release on the topic. We'll include that release, entitled: "Hawley to Legislature: Stop Property Tax Rise Now," here in full.

First, however, let's here from Ranzenhofer, who spoke with us by phone today. Ranzenhofer agreed that the result of the study was not all that much of a surprise.

"Those of us who live here, work here, are well ware of the crushing taxes across the board," he said. "The only thing that's going to revitalize the area is not the suggestion of the governor to increase taxes on everything. We need to cut taxes and cut spending to encourage job growth."

We asked Ranzenhofer what he could do in the Senate to help relieve the tax burden here in Genesee County.

"One thing is my action on the state budget," he said. "It's a little disappointing that there hasn't been more done in Albany to deal with the budget and the budget deficit. We need to very strongly oppose increases in taxes, and even take it one step further and really need (to institute) across-the-board reduction in taxes. That doesn't mean shifting the burden to counties, families and business. It means streamlining every agency and department in state government."

Ranzenhofer spoke of instituting a tax cap and really following through on the threat of a hiring freeze at the state level. "We need to create a new tiered pension system," he added. "These are all things I've talked about. I hope to introduce legislation along those lines this year."

We'll keep an eye on you, Mike.

From the office of Steve Hawley:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R, I, C - Batavia) highlighted the recent Tax Foundation report, which announced that Orleans, Niagara, Monroe and Genesee counties all top the nation in highest property taxes as a percentage of median home value, when calling upon the State Legislature to immediately address property tax-saving measures.  The top measure hurting property taxpayers, according to Hawley, is the estimated $6 billion in unfunded mandates pushed onto local governments and, consequently, homeowners.

"Unfortunately, all we are seeing from our state's leaders right now is inaction when it comes to solving this crisis.  As always, Albany is continuing to shift the burden, and shift the blame, for property taxpayers' ever-rising tax burden.  In fact, this proposed state budget will shift nearly $4,000 per individual taxpayer.  For our state's economy to recover, Albany needs to begin taking responsibility for its spending.  We cannot afford this year's record-breaking budget proposal and we certainly cannot afford $4,000 in subsequent tax hikes," said Hawley.

According to the Assemblyman, the solution is multi-fold, which is why he has been a vocal advocate for increasing the economic viability of Western New York in order to help lower property tax costs.  The more businesses paying property taxes, the less these taxes will be burdening homeowners. However, Hawley states, "We must do more to attract business to coming to New York and we must strengthen our commitment to keeping businesses here. We cannot expect businesses to bear the brunt of the property tax burden and still offer quality jobs.  But it is vital to our long-term property tax-relieving solution that we address business growth."

Last year, as the nation was on the brink of an economic recession, Hawley was among tax reformers who asked, "Isn't it about time New York State make some tough budget choices as well?"  The federal government stepped in with their federal stimulus checks and buy-out capital for corporations, but it was still clear that states would need to rein in spending and consider stimulus plans of their own.  However, despite this, the New York State Legislature passed the most expensive budget in state history.

This year's Executive Budget proposal breaks the spending record again, paid for by 137 new and increased taxes.  His budget proposal also eliminates the property tax rebate check and decreases STAR exemptions across the board. At the same time, this budget does not address Medicaid fraud and, moreover, by cutting education aid, it will pass along an inevitable burden to local governments.  Not only will this plan cause local property taxes to rise, but it could also cost the state over half a million jobs.  According to former state chief economist Stephen Kagann, every $100 million in new taxes imposed during a recession leads to a loss of 11,400 private sector jobs. With these tax hikes totally $6 billion, this means the approximate loss of 600,000 jobs.

To balance the State Budget and reduce the state's debt, Hawley has long called for cost saving measures, such as agency and department consolidation, such as merging the Office of Real Property Services into the Department of Taxation and Finance, saving New York State taxpayers $18 million annually.  Another $37 million would be saved by merging the Office of Climate Change into the Office of Atmospheric Research at the State University of Albany.

Hawley also has been on the forefront of tackling government waste by calling for state operating cost cuts and continues to propose cost-saving measures such as limiting the amount of vehicles purchased on taxpayer dollars by 50 percent (not including public safety vehicles such as police, fire and emergency services vehicles) to save another estimated $4 million and $25 million, respectively.  Assemblyman Hawley stated, "The bulk of the cost savings would come from finally targeting Medicaid fraud, abuse and waste.  I have long supported a complete state take-over of Medicaid. Not only would this help ensure the program is run more efficiently, but it would eliminate a multi-billion unfunded mandate currently put on our local governments and taxpayers.  Perhaps, most importantly, by forcing the state to take responsibility for the Medicaid program, it will also help make Albany more accountable and cognizant for its spending overall."

The Tax Foundation used information compiled by the United States Census Bureau from 2005 to 2007 in their report which shows that out of all counties in the nation (with 20,000 or more residents) Orleans County residents pay the highest property taxes as a percentage of their home worth at 3.05 percent.  Niagara County came in second at 2.90 percent, followed by Monroe County ranking fifth and Genesee County ranking eighth at 2.84 and 2.69 percent, respectively.  Every county topping the nation's most highly taxed counties came from New York State (rankings 1-20), with the exception of Fort Bend County in Texas, ranking in eleventh place.  The majority of New York State counties on the list came from Western New York, strengthening Hawley's assertion that economic stimulus and a drastic reduction in spending are vital to lowering property taxes.

Yesterday, we ran a post about the push by some members of Batavia's City Council to cut down on the funding for downtown celebrations, such as Summer in the City and Christmas in the City. Councilman Bob Bialkowski explained that they only wanted to limit the amount of funding available to cut down on overtime costs, but that they would not eliminate the celebrations altogether. Bialkowski justifies the push for cuts as a measure to minimize the city's property tax rate. Opponents of the cuts, however, argue that any cut in funding would shift too much of a cost burden onto the Batavia Business Improvement District, sponsors of the events.

What do you think?

Daily News writer Paul Mrozek has a lengthy piece out today on Gov. Paterson's plans to tell parents how to raise their children -- specifically how to control their diets.

He includes all the facts from the governor's perspective, but passes over one lone skeptical voice deep in the article.  There is little focus on the propriety of New York engaging in social engineering, nor the degree to which this plan is going to create new bureaucracies and hence new expenses, whether there is any evidence such a plan will work, nor how the plan will impact businesses and create new costs that will be passed along to all consumers.

The most far-reaching of the proposals is an 18 percent sales tax on sugar-sweetened beverages such as soda. Juices from fruit such as oranges and grapes are excluded from the proposed tax.

In the past 40 years New York residents have increased their consumption of pop from an average of five 12-ounce cans or bottles per week to 11 per week. Research has shown that consumption of non-diet soft drinks is one of the primary factors that increases the risk of obesity in children and adults.

"No question about the link. We have a core fact in front of us," Daines said.

Not so fast. There is a question. A big fat question.

To blame all low-income obesity on soda pop alone is myopic. Low-income diets tend to be heavy in empty carbohydrates of all kinds, not just sugar. Children living in food insecure homes consume less healthy food. One reason there is such an abundance of empty-carb foods can be traced to farm subsidies for corn, but even that connection is a rather simplistic view of the obesity problem among poorer children.

There is also the question of proper exercise.  In too many homes, children are allowed to watch TV or play video games rather than being required to run around outside.

These are largely parental issues, not government issues.

If the government wanted to do something to help, they would restructure aid programs to make it easier to buy healthier food.  Given a choice, most parents would pick more meats, fruits and vegetables. But right now these options are beyond their budgets. 

Driving up the costs of the high-carb foods isn't going to help them afford the good foods.

The article says, "You raise prices. You provide alternatives."  But what are those alternatives. How are they paid for and provided?  If the alternatives are paid for by the tax, how does the state ensure sufficient revenue for those alternatives once consumption of the taxed items goes down?

Will taxed drinks receive some sort of stamp like alcohol and cigarettes?  If so, aren't we just creating yet another environment for potential illegal black market activities?

And one issue about the proposed tax I've not seen discussed anywhere is the impact on business: Who will levy the tax? Will retail outlets be burdened with the the expense of tracking and tallying the tax, which could include the expense of reprogramming cash registers?  And if the tax is imposed at the wholesale level, won't it just get passed along to all consumers of soft drinks and other beverages from those particular wholesalers?

What about vending machines? Will vendors be required to have two prices on drinks in their machines -- one for taxed items, and one for non-taxed? Or will us diet drinkers just pay more? Who pays for the expense of reprogramming machines or replacing machines that aren't capable of handling tiered prices on soft drinks?

Per usual, any time the government starts interfering in private lives and private enterprise, there are as many if not more problems created than solved.

Here's an appropriate and timely video from Reason Magazine.

The Buffalo News this morning reports that New York teachers are increasing pressure on the state Legislature to oppose. Gov. Paterson's property tax cap.

The campaign to stop the cap is intense. NYSUT last week withheld endorsements from 38 state senators who voted for the Paterson tax cap. The Working Families Party mailed out 200,000 fliers in a bid to ensure the Democratic-run Assembly does not take up the cap this week. The party, along with the Alliance for Quality Education, has begun a one-week, $1.5 million TV ad campaign blasting the cap. It has also run radio ads.

High taxes -- and they are outrageously high in New York -- impede economic growth, cost people jobs, discourage businesses to relocate to New York, drive businesses out of New York, and ultimately decrease the amount of money local governments can generate in revenue.

Gov. Patterson's proposal is modest compared to the substantial cuts that should be made.

It's disappointing that the teachers union, at such a critical time, is putting self interest ahead of community interest.