State Republicans to Propose Reinstating Property Tax Rebate Check

Senate Republicans will unveil today a proposal to expand tax credits and bring back a property tax rebate check that was eliminated in 2009.

The proposal, would more than double the tax deduction for each taxpayer's dependent, which has been $1,000 since 1987. It would also increase the tax credit for children age 4 to 16 in each family and update the amount a taxpayer can deduct for child care expenses.

The GOP senators, who make up the bulk of the coalition that runs the chamber, are also pushing to reinstate rebate checks that had been a part of the STAR program, which currently provides a discount on property taxes for many New Yorkers. The checks, which cost the state a total of $1.3 billion, were eliminated in 2009, over Republican objections.

Republicans did not immediately say how the expanded tax credits would be paid for, but some of the proposals could be included in the senate's budget proposal, which should be introduced later this week in concert with the five-member Independent Democratic Conference. Democrats who dominate the assembly will also introduce a spending plan, and the "one-house" budgets will be reconciled with Governor Andrew Cuomo before a March 31 deadline.