The Suffolk County Village Officials Association is striking back against a proposal by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that would enact a two-year freeze on property taxes coupled with a 2 percent property tax cap on local towns, villages and school districts. 

 

Under the plan, if a local government holds to a 2 percent or less increase, the state would pay the difference to taxpayers. But if a local government exceeds that number, its residents won't get the money. 

 

Members of the Suffolk County Village Officials Association say that if the state lawmakers pass the governor's proposal it will hurt small villages, which are already forced to deal with rising pension and health care costs each year, along with other variables.

 

The group wrote a letter to the governor criticizing the plan, saying it is "not cost savings, but merely cost shifting." 

 

They say that even if a village keeps its tax hikes under the 2 percent cap, the money going from the state to the taxpayers would essentially just be money the taxpayers already paid to the state.