Governor Cuomo’s new initiative to reduce property taxes requires counties to assemble local governments to find efficiencies for real, recurring taxpayer savings.

The County-Wide Shared Services Initiative, included in the enacted FY 2018 Budget, requires county officials to develop localized plans that find property tax savings by coordinating and eliminating duplicative services and propose coordinated services to enhance purchasing power.

The property tax is the largest tax burden to the New York taxpayer, with the typical taxpayer paying 2.5 times more in property taxes than in income taxes. While Governor Cuomo has made reducing this burden a central priority of his administration, the tax is still a significant expense for property owners. The goal of this new initiative is to save taxpayers money by identifying collaborative opportunities for shared services between as many local governments as possible.