Cuomo in Peekskill calls permanent tax cap 'my line in the sand,' criticizes Trump

The Journal News

PEEKSKILL - Gov Andrew Cuomo came to Peekskill today to build support for his budget, which includes his plan to make permanent the 2 percent tax cap.

Cuomo said he wouldn't sign the state budget, due April 1, without legislative approval of his plan to make the tax cap on municipal and school tax yearly increases permanent.

He called the issue "my line in the sand."

"If the legislature doesn't pass the permanent cap, this hand will never sign the state budget," he said.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks in Peekskill Wednesday, March 13, 2019. In an event before 125 people, the governor pushed for making the 2 percent property-tax cap permanent. He spoke in the union hall of UA Local 21 Plumbers and Steamfitters.

Cuomo also responded to President Donald Trump's tweet on Tuesday that mentioned him in the president"s criticism of state Attorney General Letitia James' investigation of Trump's businesses in New York.

“We have a separately elected attorney general,” Cuomo said. “But he’s mad at me."

The governor countered by criticizing the Trump tax deal of 2017, which capped the deductibility of state and local taxes. He said the law targeted Democratic states that backed Trump's 2016 opponent.

"It was the worst case of political partisanship," Cuomo said.

Cuomo is stepping up pressure for permanent tax cap with events in Nassau County and Westchester County — the two counties with among the highest property taxes in the nation. Today his podium sign: “No Tax Cap - No Deal!”

In Peekskill, he spoke before about 125 people at the union hall of UA Local 21 Plumbers and Steamfitters on McKinley Avenue.

Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi was among the officials at a property-tax cap event featuring Gov. Andrew Cuomo in Peekskill on Wednesday, March 13, 2019, at the union hall of UA Local 21 Plumbers and Steamfitters. She backs Cuomo's push to make the 2 percent tax cap permanent. "It keeps public officials' feet to the fire," she said.

Cortlandt supervisor Linda Puglisi was among them. She backs the permanent tax cap. "It keeps public officials' feet to the fire," she said.

Westchester County Legislator Catherine Borgia, also on hand, said she was "keeping an open mind" on Cuomo's tax policy.

She was more concerned with how President Trump's tax cuts have impacted the county, with the cap on the deductibility of state and local taxes.

Westchester County Legislator Catherine Borgia was among the officials on hand at a tax cap event in Peekskill featuring Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Wednesday, March 13, 2019. The event was held at the union hall of UA Local 21 Plumbers and Steamfitters.
Borgia said she was 'keeping an open mind' on the governor's tax policy.

"I'm more interested in how the state responds to changes in federal tax policy, " she said

CUOMO'S OWN WORDS:I won't sign a state budget that lacks a permanent property tax cap

MARCH 1:Gov. Andrew Cuomo stumbles in tax policy speech in Mount Kisco