Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and legislative leaders announced on Tuesday that they had reached an agreement to overhaul New York State’s income tax, creating a higher tax bracket for the highest-income residents and reducing the tax rate for millions of middle-class residents.
The deal came together just 25 days before the expiration of the state’s so-called millionaires’ tax — actually a surcharge on all individuals earning over $200,000 a year. The proposed tax overhaul would result in most residents’ being taxed next year at a lower rate than this year.
“While I am against higher taxes, and I believe our long-term economic future for this state is enhanced by in fact lowering taxes to make us more competitive, to deal with this emergency, short-term, we do need additional revenue,” Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said.
“If I were to close the entire gap by budget cuts, it would decimate essential services, doing real harm to the state’s economy and strangling local governments all across this state.”
The agreement would also seek to lower unemployment by financing job-creation programs. (for Minorities) It would allocate $50 million to help stricken areas repair flood damage, create an infrastructure fund to finance a new program of road and bridge construction and support job-training programs.