This morning, New York State Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi and Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr. called on the New York Congressional delegation to vote against the US House of Representatives budget proposal that attacks the state and local tax deduction, ultimately harming middle-class families and school children.
The SALT deduction is claimed by 44 million American households, a large percentage of whom are middle-class homeowners. Nonetheless, Washington has this deduction in its crosshairs because eliminating it raises $1.6 trillion over 10 years that tax writers can use to fund other tax breaks, many of which benefit corporation and the wealthiest Americans.
Local services that residents of the Mohawk Valley depend on will be negatively impacted if the SALT deduction is reduced or eliminated. A report from the National Education Association shows that New York will face a loss of $1,402 per student per school year and that 24,628 educator jobs will be at risk under the current proposal.
An analysis prepared by the National Association of Realtors found that homeowners with Average Gross Income (AGI) between $50,000 and $200,000 would see their taxes go up with an average increase of $815 under such a proposal, even if the standard deduction were doubled. Furthermore, NAR also found that housing values might drop about 10 percent because tax reform would increase the after-tax cost of housing and dampen demand.
“It is unacceptable for our elected representatives to give corporations and the wealthiest Americans an enormous tax cut on the backs of middle-class families and school children. Our Congressional delegation must vote against any tax bill that punishes hardworking New Yorkers,” said NYS Assemblyman Anthony Brindisi, a Democrat from Utica.
“The partial elimination of the state and local tax deduction will raise taxes for many middle-class suburban homeowners in the Mohawk Valley and the proposal is unacceptable as is,” said Oneida County Executive Anthony J. Picente Jr., a Republican from Rome.
The Government Finance Officers Association analyzed the impact of the proposal on four upstate New York congressional districts and found that individual and family taxpayers (married with two children) in all four Upstate New York congressional districts analyzed would face sizeable tax increases. Individuals who own homes appear to be hit in larger numbers than families in these districts, in large part because the Brady tax plan provides a new family and child tax credit. However, the tax increases for families will increase significantly once the new family credit expires after 2022.
Among the findings:
- Most single-filers in NY-22 will face a tax-increase, nearing 8% for some.
- NY-19 is the hardest hit New York district analyzed with middle-class tax increases as high as $6,167.
- The second hardest hit district is NY-21 with middle-class tax increases as high as $3,481.
- In all four of the New York districts analyzed, the average homeowner would face higher tax bills in more than half of the zip codes.
| Single Filers | ||||||
| State | District | Representative | Percent of Zip Codes with Increases | Average $ Increase[1] | Highest $ Increase[2] | Highest % Increase[3] |
| NY | 19 | Faso | 61.80% | $521 | $5,950 | 12.00% |
| NY | 21 | Stefanik | 51.70% | $511 | $3,074 | 18.60% |
| NY | 22 | Tenney | 60.80% | $469 | $1,486 | 8.00% |
| NY | 24 | Katko | 63.70% | $487 | $1,474 | 6.10% |
| Married Filing Jointly (Two Children) | |||||||
| State | District | Representative | Percent of Zip Codes With Increases | Average $ Increase1 | Highest $ Increase2 | Highest % Increase3 | Highest $ Increase in 2023[4] |
| NY | 19 | Faso | 32.40% | $1,073 | $6,167 | 17.10% | $6,767 |
| NY | 21 | Stefanik | 13.00% | $1,082 | $3,481 | 17.40% | $4,081 |
| NY | 22 | Tenney | 9.00% | $463 | $1,098 | 6.70% | $1,698 |
| NY | 24 | Katko | 14.10% | $975 | $1,635 | 8.50% | $2,235 |
The analysis is based on modeling by the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) of the 2015 IRS Statistics of Income (SOI) which provides actual tax data down to the zip code level. Using this model, GFOA examined the taxes paid by both individuals and families of four who earned between $50,000 and $200,000 and own homes in these congressional districts, and compared their tax liabilities under current law with the Brady plan. To determine tax liability under the Brady plan, the GFOA model took account of its lower rates, higher standard deductions and child and family credits, the elimination of state income and sales deductions, and the cap on property taxes. Importantly, one of the limitations of this analysis is that only aggregate and average data per zip code can be analyzed. As a result, taxpayers in many zip codes not counted in the above tables could still face tax increases, but are excluded from this analysis because the average individual or family would not face an immediate increase.
- Average of the zip codes with tax increases
- Highest dollar increase among zip codes with tax increases
- Highest percentage increase in zips with tax increase
- Highest dollar increase among zip codes with tax increases plus expiration of family flexibility credit
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[1] Average of the zip codes with tax increases.
[2] Highest dollar increase among zip codes with tax increases
[3] Highest percentage increase in zips with tax increase