Congresswoman Tenney Introduces Legislation to Hold Albany Democrats Accountable for Soaring Property Taxes
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Claudia Tenney (NY-24) today introduced the Property Tax Reduction Act, which would prevent state governments like New York from unfairly shifting state Medicaid expenses onto local county governments.
Congressman Nick Langworthy (R-NY) co-led this bill alongside Congresswoman Tenney. Congressman Brandon Williams (R-NY) and Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) are also original cosponsors.
New York is the only state in the country that requires local counties to pay a substantial portion of the state’s share of Medicaid funding, amounting to nearly $8 billion per year or nearly a quarter of the non-federal cost share for the program.
This places enormous fiscal pressure on our local governments and has led to some of the highest property tax bills in the country. This arrangement also enables the state to inflate and expand both the scope and the cost of Medicaid since the state is not directly responsible for absorbing the costs associated with burdensome changes and unfounded mandates to the program. This mandate is among the reasons New York also has the highest per capita Medicaid expenditures nationwide; as of 2019, per capita Medicaid personal spending for New York is close to 7 times higher than that of California and 10 times higher than New Jersey.
In New York’s 24th Congressional District, this irresponsible funding scheme shifts a burden of at least $180 million onto our county governments annually. Counties raise most of these funds through property tax levies. Tenney’s bill would stop Albany from passing this Medicaid share onto counties, saving local taxpayers millions.
“New York State leads the country with the highest rate of outmigration,” said Congresswoman Tenney. “This mass exodus directly corresponds with outrageous property taxes, forcing families and small businesses to relocate. One of the driving causes of this crisis is that New York’s 62 county governments have zero say in how New York’s Medicaid program is operated but are forced to pay a significant amount of its costs. This dysfunctional and unfair system burdens county governments, driving up costs for working families. It also lets Albany Democrats off the hook for reckless spending and gross mismanagement. I am reintroducing the Property Tax Reduction Act to require New York’s Democrat lawmakers to start taking responsibility for reckless spending and to prevent them from unfairly shifting costs to local property taxpayers and counties.”
“Eliminating enhanced Medicaid payments to local governments will increase local county property taxes. I oppose this cash grab in the state budget and thank Congressional leaders like Claudia Tenney and Nick Langworthy for fighting for local taxpayers,” said New York State Senate Republican Leader Rob Ortt, District 62.
“Any proposal that shifts funding away from county governments represents a direct assault on taxpayers. Albany Democrats are playing a budget shell game that ends with a $625 million loss for localities, and leaders in every region of New York have sounded the alarm about the impact this will have – higher property taxes. It’s the last thing residents can afford. The cost-of-living crisis in New York is real, it’s gone unaddressed for too long, and it’s driving families and businesses away. I’m pleased that New York’s Congressional delegation is taking steps fight back against a budget proposal that punishes the taxpayers we should be protecting,” said New York State Assembly Minority Leader Will Barclay (R,C-Pulaski).
“The state’s plan to keep federal funds that Congress intended as a pass-thru to counties is an insult to counties, like Oswego, that have worked tirelessly to lower taxes for residents and maintain affordability despite a deluge of unfunded mandates from Albany. If the state budget proposal is adopted, Oswego County would be on the hook for more than $3 million in additional expenses each year that would unfortunately fall on the shoulders of taxpayers. Adding insult to injury, the proposal comes at a time when the state projects a general fund surplus of more than $35 billion by the end of the next fiscal year and no effort has been made to curb spending in Albany,” said Oswego County Legislature Chairman James Weatherup
"I fully support Congresswoman Tenny’s bill to prevent NYS from placing the increasing burden of Medicaid expenses on county governments. Currently the Medicaid cost for Yates County is one-fourth of our County tax levy, and with Governor Hochul’s proposed budget, this will expenditure will grow over $500 thousand for 2023. This is an amount that was not anticipated and consequently not budgeted for in our 2023 budget. This has an immediate impact on how we will operate this year and will inevitably result in future property tax increases of over 3% each year. This growth in property taxes just for Medicaid expenditures alone is unsustainable for our Yates County taxpayers," said Yates County Legislature Chairwoman Leslie Church.
"Unfunded mandates are nothing more than a way for the state to hide how much it is really spending, by shifting the costs of their programs onto county governments and ultimately, property taxpayers," said Becky Wydysh, Chairman of the Niagara County Legislature. "The most egregious of these unfunded mandates is Medicaid, which eats up close to half of our property tax levy and the state wants to take even more. I applaud the effort by Congresswoman Tenney to prevent states from passing these Medicaid costs onto property taxpayers. New York State runs the program and New York State should pay for it," said Niagara County Legislature Chairwoman Becky Wydysh.
You can view the full text of this legislation here.
A version of the Property Tax Reduction Act was last introduced in 2022 and is being reintroduced by Congresswoman Tenney this year. In 2017, Congresswoman Tenney also championed an amendment similar to the Property Tax Reduction Act as part of negotiations related to comprehensive healthcare reform.
Last month, Congresswoman Tenney joined a resolution introduced by Congressman Marc Molinaro that expressed opposition to Governor Kathy Hochul’s plan to block enhanced Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (eFMAP) funds from going to county governments to reimburse them for Medicaid expenses discussed above. Hochul’s plan, which was released as part of her budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year, would deny counties up to $1 billion in eFMAP reimbursement funds. This will force counties to further raise property taxes on local taxpayers to make up for the lack of reimbursement. This resolution clarifies that it was Congress’ intent for eFMAP funds to be shared directly with the county and local governments that cover the associated Medicaid costs.
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