A fourth stimulus check, or a continuation of the monthly child tax credit checks, would certainly be nice to have, the deeper we get into 2022. Alas, President Biden and the Democrats have their hands full at this point with a number of other priorities. And they don’t seem to have the votes in support of either one of those policy items. This is to say, importantly, such financial relief for Americans is by and large going to come via state and local governments at this point. And New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s $216.3 billion budget proposal that includes giving people a break on their property taxes is one such example of this.
Hochul earlier this month unveiled her first proposed budget outline since taking over for Andrew Cuomo. It includes a mix of tax cuts and a hike in funding for schools and healthcare. In addition to a bevy of other priorities, including the aforementioned property tax relief.
Help with property taxes
“As I said in my State of the State speech: It’s time for a better, fairer, and more inclusive version of the American Dream,” Hochul said when laying out her budget plan. “I’m calling it the New York Dream. We will make that New York Dream real — and ensure that it can be realized by every single New Yorker.”
Among other things, her plan creates a new property tax relief credit — the Homeowner Tax Rebate Credit. And its proposed recipients include eligible low- and middle-income households, as well as eligible senior households.
Outside of New York City, the average benefit will total almost $970. That’s according to a summary of the budget’s details, with the credit providing relief to more than 2 million property tax-paying households. In New York City proper, the average benefit from the property tax credit would be about $425. With benefits reaching another 479,000 property tax-paying households.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul budget proposal
Also worth noting: For homeowners with income below $75,000? Per the governor’s office, the statewide average credit will total almost $1,050. And it would benefit an estimated 837,800 recipients.
“The benefit will be in the form of an advanced credit,” the governor’s office continues, “instead of being claimed when tax returns are filed, thus getting benefits in the hands of New York homeowners more quickly. Credits will be an advance on Tax Year 2022 income tax returns, to be directly sent to eligible homeowners beginning in Fall 2022.”
As we mentioned above, meanwhile, this is one way that governments are providing financial relief to people outside of stimulus checks. Political leaders continue proposing new relief along these lines on a pretty regular basis.
Below, you can check out some other examples from our recent coverage of the different kinds of relief available.
Still no fourth stimulus check, but there’s a new tax rebate you need to know about
Better than stimulus checks: This new program gets some people $900 every month
