Lawmakers in Albany are examining two plans to address property tax relief and the state's ballooning budget deficit.

The Democrat-controlled state Assembly is pushing a "circuit breaker" plan that would give elderly and middle class homeowners a break. The plan would base school taxes more on income than home value.

Gov. David Paterson, Nassau Executive Tom Suozzi and the Republican-controlled state Senate are pushing a "tax cap" plan. Under that plan, school taxes would be limited to 4 percent growth a year unless voters overwhelmingly choose to surpass that amount.

"The cap will force not only the state, but local school districts as well, to start figuring out how to reduce costs, and you'll start to get mandate relief," says Suozzi.

The Assembly's proposal would give income tax credit to families earning $250,000 or less per year. Support for the circuit breaker plan is growing, as a new statewide poll shows 58 percent support for it over the Senate's proposal.

Critics of the circuit breaker plan point out that it gives no tax relief to businesses. Others are opposed to it because its middle-class benefits would be paid for by hiking taxes on the state's millionaires. Those tax hikes include creating a new tax bracket for those who earn more than $5 million per year.