Cuomo Is Giving Millionaire Yacht Owners a Massive Tax Break
From the minute he took office in 2010, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has been criticized for favoring the One Percent. His administration has scaled back corporate taxes of all shapes and sizes, and the Democrat is often criticized for cozying up to the state's wealthy residents and, by extension, their campaign wallets. His closest legislative ally, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, is facing fraud charges. And currently, the federal investigation into the Cuomo administration's handling of the Moreland Commission—which was supposed to rout this corruption—is directly linked to billionaires who have donated to the governor's campaigns, and benefited from his policies.
So yeah, the major tax break for rich yacht and private jet owners included in the latest state budget shouldn't surprise those familiar with New York politics.
On Monday night, in a 44-17 vote, the New York state Senate passed a tax break for New Yorkers who own "vessels" valued at more than $230,000, placing the Empire State in the same league as Florida and Connecticut. Basically, that means that anyone who owns a yacht or, according to state law, any naval vehicle "used or capable of being used as a means of transportation on water" that costs more than $230,000 will not have to pay a sales tax on anything above that amount. Meanwhile, the entire purchase of private jets carrying fewer than 20 people would be tax-less.
The bipartisan provision had already appeared earlier this year, in separate proposals by Assembly Democrats and the Senate GOP, and was ultimately added to the $150 billion budget submitted by Cuomo's team before it was approved by both parties earlier this week. This marks another year that his administration has passed a budget on time—a welcome change in Albany, where budget deadlines were once regarded as a suggestion—and, almost like clockwork, another year that New Yorkers are pissed off.
more
http://www.vice.com/read/new-york-is-giving-millionaire-yacht-owners-a-massive-tax-break-401
= new reply since forum marked as read
... ( pro-Cuomo) DEM club ( that I used to belong to but left.)
It's exactly one block from *another* brand new charter school that was completed about two years ago.
Cuomo's been moving heaven and earth to promote the charter industry... and they've been responding in kind. ( i.e w. $$$$$.)
Meanwhile lots of public school kids in this district are going to school in trailers ( The kleptocracy calls them "Temporary Instructional Units." Hint: they're just trailers.)
Point: politics here is.... well... mighty strange. And any connection of the NYS DEM Party w. traditional DEM values ( say, "New Deal"
values is very, very hard to discern these days.
Let's just say that "charters make yachters."
