Cuomo Supports Proposal For Two-Year Property Tax Freeze

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York residents may get a holiday gift that will keep on giving.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo threw his support behind a proposal Tuesday that would put a two-year freeze on local property taxes.

The proposal, put forth by the governor's tax commission, calls for the state to subsidize the cost of the freeze in 2014 with its budget surplus.  The freeze would then be subsidized by service cuts and consolidation on a local level in 2015.

Cuomo credited the surplus to holding state spending increases to under 2 percent during his three years in office.  "It's good news that we are in a position to, frankly, have this luxury of deciding how to invest this surplus because we did what we had to,'' Cuomo said.

The tax commission recommended using $1 billion, about half the surplus for the freeze.

Under the proposal, the freeze would also only apply to municipalities and school districts that abided by the state-imposed cap of 2 percent growth in budget spending.

The state Legislature could begin voting on the proposal during its next session in January.

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