Nick Reisman reports in the Poughkeepsie Journal - ” There is not much in the completed state budget for businesses to be happy about.

Business groups charge that the $136.5 billion budget includes new fees and reduced tax credits that will continue to stagnate job growth in the private sector.

They also complain about what wasn’t adopted — making permanent a program that reduces energy costs and any form of property-tax relief.

Ken Pokalsky, director of government affairs for Business Council of New York State, fears the $1.5 billion in new taxes will hasten the exodus of jobs out of the state.

“As every state is scrambling and trying to recover, this is really unprecedented state-level policy,” he said. “We don’t see other states taking these measures.”

Then there’s the elimination of the Empire Zone economic-development program, which provided tax credits to businesses in exchange for job creation.”

To read more click here.

Rick Karlin writes in the Times Union - “Now that the budget is completed, Gov. David Paterson says he wants to focus on passing a property tax cap.

That item has passed with bipartisan support in the Senate on several occasions — including Tuesday’s climactic budget-closing session, in which Democrats and Republicans supported the measure 52-7.

But a cap on school and local property taxes is unlikely to get off the ground in the Assembly, where a critical mass of lawmakers hails from New York City — and where property taxes aren’t the overwhelming issue that they are in the suburbs.

On Wednesday morning, Paterson said he’ll call legislators back to Albany in October to vote on the tax cap.

“Even if the Legislature comes back in October and (the Assembly) refuses to put the property tax cap bill on the floor, I think the public has the right to know where everybody stands, even if they don’t stand at all,” Paterson said during a phone conference about completion of the approximately $136 billion budget.”

To read more click here.

Tell your representative that they should demand Speaker Silver respond to the pleas of homeowners across the state and support a property tax cap in New York. Click here.

Tom Precious of the Buffalo News looks at the many ways the new state budget will taxes New Yorkers and how our leaders in Albany continue to spend and create an atmosphere of distrust.

“Gov. David A. Paterson has been making a curious sales pitch as he assesses the finally completed state budget.

“It doesn’t tax much, either,” Paterson said.

How much is not much? Try $1 billion — at least.

New or higher taxes and fees on everything from tobacco products, court filings, clothing purchases and Internet hotel bookings will bring Albany just over $1 billion this year, while other “revenue actions,” like trying to collect taxes on Indian cigarette sales, are worth another $500 million or so.

Paterson’s positive spin may not be entirely off base. Depending on which side you believe, taxpayers last year paid an additional $6 billion to $8 billion — a record.

“After you’ve enacted the largest tax increase by an order of magnitude in New York’s history, nothing looks like that much. But this would still rank among the largest single tax increases ever,” E. J. McMahon, director of the Empire Center for New York State Policy, a conservative group, said of the newly enacted budget’s tax tab…

The $100 million in delayed credits this year balloons to about $900 million in extra revenue for Albany in each of the next two years. And while the state calls it a “deferral” of credits, most groups believe the money will never be seen.

Business groups said the credits were viewed as a promise by companies that had already budgeted for tax breaks when they bought equipment, hired workers or expanded operations.

Kenneth Pokalsky, the chief lobbyist at the Business Council of New York State, said the state’s economic development and job creation efforts are “incentive based” with features like tax credits for manufacturing equipment purchases or real estate development in blighted areas.

“This is going to take the air right out of those efforts,” he said.

Critics said the state can’t be trusted by businesses.”

To read more click here.

A Daily News editorial take a closer look at how state lawmaker are making you dig deeper in to your pockets to pay for their spending habits.

“The fiscal monstrosity that state lawmakers finally finished birthing Tuesday night - four months and three days late - hardly deserves to be called a budget.

An honest attempt to address a fiscal crisis - and put New York on a healthy financial path in the long term - this is not.

It’s a classic Albany patch job, built on gimmicks, IOUs, fantasy revenues and, worst of all tax and fee hikes no New Yorker can escape. And, that will slam the working and middle classes.

Rather than grapple with long-term reform - like defusing the pension bomb by switching government workers to 401(k)-type retirement accounts - Gov. Paterson, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Democratic chief John Sampson slapped a tax on clothing purchases of less than $110.”

To read more click here.

Michael Gormley of the Associated Press writes - “A day after the Legislature passed one of the latest state budgets in New York history, financial and business analysts said the budget overspends and overtaxes while Gov. David Paterson said the work isn’t done.

The lame-duck Democrat says he’ll push lawmakers to approve his property tax cap, which appears to have little chance in the Assembly. On Wednesday, he repeated his threat to bring the Assembly back to Albany in October — the height of election season — to face a vote on his proposal to limit local property tax growth to 4 percent annually.

Powerful Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, a Manhattan Democrat, said he remains “open” to addressing the issue, but he noted the Assembly sought property tax relief by fighting to restore Paterson’s 5 percent cut in aid to schools to contend with a $9.2 billion deficit. Paterson vetoed that attempt…

“It’s official: Albany has enacted the anti-recovery budget,” said Kenneth Adams, CEO of the state Business Council. “When nearly every other state has made the tough decisions to hold the line on spending and taxes, New York has increased spending in the last two years by nearly $14 billion and increased our already sky-high taxes by over $9.5 billion, despite the steepest economic downturn in eighty years.”

To read more click here.

The Business Review collected reaction from across the state to the approval to the final budget bill by the State Senate. The measure included more than $1 billion in new taxes and fees on top of $1 billion in new revenue measures already approved this year. Here is some of what they collected.

Sen. John Sampson (D-Brooklyn), Senate Majority Conference Leader :

“We stopped irresponsible giveaways where the state got little in return, and passed sound fiscal policy and strong business incentives to create jobs and grow industries. And we balanced two of the most difficult budgets in New York state history in our first two years by making the tough cuts and smart restorations to clean up the mess they left us. You do not have to look hard to see the difference between what Senate Republicans are saying and we are doing.”

Scott Reif, Senate Republican spokesman:

“The governor, Senate and Assembly Democrats approved $2.2 billion in new tax increases and did away with an additional $1.6 billion in STAR rebate checks that won’t be going out this year. Maybe these facts have slipped the governor’s mind, but the seniors and homeowners who would be getting rebate checks in their mailboxes this month and next sure haven’t forgotten.”

Kenneth Adams, president and CEO of The Business Council of New York State Inc.:

“Last night Senate Democrats gave approval to the final budget bill, adopting more than $1 billion in new taxes and fees on top of $1 billion in new revenue measures already approved this year. Their vote is a far cry from their promise of no new taxes in their earlier budget resolution. Now it’s official: Albany has enacted the anti-recovery budget. You can’t impose new taxes and fees on businesses, cut economic development programs, renege on promised investment incentives and then hope that employers will turn around and create jobs.”

Reactions also were mixed on the Senate’s vote to temporarily stop issuing permits for a certain type of drilling for natural gas that involves horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing. A companion bill in the Assembly has not been voted on yet.

The Independent Oil & Gas Association of New York said the Senate’s vote “is technically flawed.”

“Reason, science, logic and economic opportunity has lost out to a calculated campaign of misinformation and ignorance,” said Brad Gill, IOGA of NY executive director. “On the very same night the Legislature passed a budget that included $1.6 billion in new taxes, fees and assessments, the Senate turned its back on an industry that would have safely explored for natural gas and provided a large part of the solution to New York’s economic despair.”

Frack Action, a group that joined with Sierra Club and other organization to oppose the drilling known as fracking, said the Senate “took a bold step late last night to ensure that risky new gas drilling techniques will not move forward until the state has properly evaluated environmental and public health threats.”

To read more from the Business Review click here.

In a statement released by The Business Council of New York State, Inc. yesterday, Kenneth Adam said, “Last night Senate democrats gave approval to the final budget bill, adopting more than $1 billion in new taxes and fees on top of $1 billion in new revenue measures already approved this year. Their vote is a far cry from their promise of no new taxes in their earlier budget resolution.”

“Now it’s official: Albany has enacted the anti-recovery budget. You can’t impose new taxes and fees on businesses, cut economic development programs, renege on promised investment incentives and then hope that employers will turn around and create jobs,” added Adams.

“In these tough economic times, private sector job growth has to be government’s number one goal,” he added. “Yet, this budget sends a chilling message to New York’s employers — instead of encouraging them to grow their businesses and increase their payrolls here, it does the opposite. To business owners across the state this budget’s a confidence-killer.”

To read the rest of the press release click here.

To read more of the Business Council’s review of the final budget click here.

This from the State Comptroller’s office:

“Even though the budget was 125 days late, there was some positive news yesterday. The Legislature did avoid massive borrowing to close the deficit. And though it looks like some FMAP money will be approved in Washington, the budget does include a contingency plan in case the federal funding is not approved.

But all in all, this budget was not worth the wait. There are significant risks in this budget and little has been done to align recurring spending with recurring revenues. The entire budget process still reeks of dysfunction and nothing was done to reform that process.

New York failed to learn the obvious lessons from last year’s budget crisis. My office will be releasing a detailed analysis of the enacted budget within the next few weeks. I will monitor and report on the state’s spending and revenues throughout the year.”

Tom Precious writes in the Buffalo News - “More than four months late, the state budget was finally approved Tuesday night after a Western New York senator retreated on his vow to withhold his vote until a new financing measure was approved for the state university system.

The approximately $136 billion budget, including about $1.5 billion in new taxes and fees approved Tuesday, is for the fiscal year that started April 1.

Passage of the stalled budget bill was assured after Sen. William T. Stachowski, a Lake View Democrat, dropped his monthlong threat to hold back his crucial vote until a deal emerged on a bill he had called a must-do for the University at Buffalo and the region’s economy.

He backed down several hours after the Assembly left town following a brief, one-day session without agreeing to the state university bill.

Stachowski said his budget vote is not a retreat because Senate Democratic leaders say they have reached a “framework” of a deal with the Assembly on a state university bill. But the three-paragraph announced deal — made by the Senate shortly before the budget vote — produced no details.

“My whole point was to get them to negotiate an agreement that gets SUNY moving forward — and that’s what this does,” Stachowski said.

Democrats who control the Assembly agreed there is some sort of agreement on SUNY, but acknowledged no aspect of the issue has been resolved.

“All the details are still being worked out,” said Sisa Moyo, a spokeswoman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver.”

To read more click here.

Danny Hakim of the New York Times writes - “Lawmakers completed one of the latest budgets in New York State history on Tuesday night, passing a last piece of legislation that will raise an additional $1 billion — in part by increasing taxes on the sale of clothing and on a variety of businesses.

The state will increase its share of revenue from video gambling machines and will allow a number of casinos to stay open later. Lawmakers also voted to reduce charitable deductions for those who make $10 million or more.

But lawmakers rejected a plan to enact a tax change on earnings by hedge fund managers who work in New York but live outside the state. Much of their compensation comes in performance incentives that are considered capital gains and are taxed federally at 15 percent. The change would have made these earnings “ordinary” income, subject to New York State taxes.

The move came as hedge funds were being wooed to move out of the state.

A vote in the State Senate took place just before 8:30 p.m., ending months of contentious negotiations, with the budget 125 days late. The Assembly had earlier approved the budget, which is projected to be $136.5 billion. Spending will increase by 2.4 percent over the previous budget.

Lawmakers had been passing the budget in pieces for several months, amid a stalemate with Gov. David A. Paterson.”

To read more click here.